


i've had the time of my life (and i owe it all to you)

by bezziemates



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, it's a college theater au what more is there to say, some agentreign in the background for good measure, there's pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 08:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15093389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bezziemates/pseuds/bezziemates
Summary: “Lena’s about to reply when she sees a blonde walk onto the stage, fiddling with her glasses. She’s wearing a light blue buttoned shirt under a casual black blazer, the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, maroon jeans and black sneakers. Her hair is tied up into a ponytail and she looks a little nervous, chest rising and falling with her deep breath as she makes her way to the center of the stage.And, as though she can feel someone looking at her, the girl looks toward Lena, striking blue eyes catching hers.”Or, Kara’s the lead actress in the fall production, and Lena’s a backstage crew member who really needs to keep her crush under control.





	i've had the time of my life (and i owe it all to you)

**Author's Note:**

> so. changed my username to bezziemates. no regrets whatsoever.
> 
> anyway, I present to you: a new keysmashed fic, ft. romeo and juliet that really isn’t romeo and juliet at all
> 
> as per usual, hope it doesn’t suck, sorry for any mistakes, and I hope you enjoy

Theater, for Lena, started out as a pastime.

When she first entered National City University, she hadn’t thought she’d ever want to join any clubs, or do any form of activity that required a major investment of her time. She’d done some theater before, in high school and middle school. She remembers being the tree in fifth grade, and getting the lead role in seventh grade. She remembers doing work behind the scenes all throughout high school.

Doing work behind the scenes is enjoyable to her. She prefers it over acting, simply because she can make a contribution without having to be under the spotlight. The idea came to her when she realized that her knowledge involving machinery and technology would be useful to help with sound, lighting and so on.

When she came to college, she’d thought that theater was history to her. But she had time between classes, and classwork was so easy that she ended up with a lot of free time. So after much contemplation, she signed up to do behind-the-scenes work for the spring musical.

Theater became a way for her to spend her time without feeling completely unproductive. She could go in whenever she wanted to work on the sound and lighting, trying to enhance the machinery to make the production more entertaining, and to prevent malfunctions on the day of the performance itself. She made good friends – Sam who worked in cues and general production, and Winn, who specialized in sound and lighting, just like Lena.

And now, in her junior year of college, she’s helped out with a total of four productions so far. Currently, she’s on her fifth – the fall production. It’s a modernized Romeo and Juliet, which really isn’t Romeo and Juliet at all. The vocabulary is stellar, probably courtesy of Miss Grant, and Lena’s pretty sure that the main characters don’t die in the end, and the plot is completely different from the original play. It’s definitely not Romeo and Juliet, but somehow, on the surface, it does seem like Romeo and Juliet.

It’s weird, but Lena chooses not to question Miss Grant’s decisions. After all, all her productions end up perfect, and they’re so good that most students actually _want_ to watch the musicals and plays.

“Each and every one of you here has the potential to do great things,” Miss Grant says, looking at all the students sitting in the seats. Lena looks out from backstage, peeking her head out of the curtain to see how many people have to come to audition for the fall play. She’s not particularly surprised to see close to a hundred people – theater has gained a reputation in National City University over the years. “I want to see that potential come out during the auditions. There will be no dilly-dallying around whatsoever, I don’t have the time for that,” Miss Grant continues. Then she claps so loudly that even Lena jumps slightly at the sound, “Let’s get started.”

//

It’s pretty funny to see some people audition. Lena knows it’s a little mean, but it’s true. Some people do their own adaptations of the script, which Miss Grant is known not to tolerate, and Lena can see the scowl on Miss Grant’s face even before the student is done with their audition. And there’s a moment of silence in the whole auditorium as they finish their lines, then a clear shout, “Next!”

Lena can admit to herself that it’s pretty funny. She doesn’t laugh, because there’s a little bit of sympathy in her heart for the people who walk away dejectedly, knowing they definitely won’t get the role. Then they sit down, slouching back against the seat, while Miss Grant doesn’t even spare them a glance. Sam stands beside her backstage, arms crossed and watching the auditions.

“I wonder how people do this,” Sam says, voice hushed and cautious of the echo in the auditorium. “I wouldn’t be able to do an audition with so many people watching. It’s scary.” Lena definitely can understand that. It’s part of the reason why she herself never auditions – she doesn’t like performing in front of a large audience. It makes her feel scrutinized and judged, to the point where she can’t do anything without feeling several pairs of eyes watching her.

Lena nods in agreement. “I agree. But I think these people are either used to it, or they know that everyone else is too nervous to judge.” She recognizes a few familiar faces in the crowd of students auditioning. Some of them have performed in past productions, always scoring a role every time. And performing must be such a rush that they feel compelled to audition for every production following their first one.

“Except Miss Grant,” Sam whispers, grinning. Lena peeks her head out again, seeing Miss Grant pinch the bridge of her nose as she takes down notes for the current student auditioning. Lena’s eyes move over to the student, who is standing awkwardly and reciting the lines monotonously.

“Except Miss Grant,” Lena echoes with a small laugh. “Honestly, she’s a good person.” Memories of Miss Grant flash through her mind. She remembers Miss Grant stopping the whole full dress rehearsal when the lead fell down and sprained her ankle, then making sure she was okay before sending her off for the day and telling her to rest. She remembers Miss Grant ordering pizza for everyone in the crew and treating them after they saved a production that nearly failed because of the lighting malfunctioning. She remembers Miss Grant encouraging a male lead who forgot his lines on the day of the full-dress rehearsal because he was nervous.

“Yeah, she really is,” Sam replies, nodding in agreement.

Lena’s about to reply when she sees a blonde walk onto the stage, fiddling with her glasses. She’s wearing a light blue buttoned shirt under a casual black blazer, the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, maroon jeans and black sneakers. Her hair is tied up into a ponytail and she looks a little nervous, chest rising and falling with her deep breath as she walks to the center of the stage.

And, as though she can feel someone looking at her, the girl looks toward Lena, striking blue eyes catching hers.

Without thinking, Lena ducks her head, looking away. When she looks back up, she catches one last glimpse of the girl’s eyes before they tear themselves away from Lena, too fast for Lena to catch the expression on her face, nor the look in her eyes. The girl turns to face the front, and from the way her head is angled down slightly, Lena can tell she’s looking at Miss Grant, probably waiting for her cue to start.

“Alright,” Miss Grant waves her hand towards the girl. “Begin.”

“My name is Kara Danvers,” the girl – Kara, apparently – says, and Lena can hear the smile in her voice and see from her diagonal angle that her cheekbones are pulled up, as though she’s smiling. There’s an air of subtle confidence surrounding her, in the way she carries herself. She doesn’t seem to notice she has it. “I’m a junior. I’ll be auditioning for the role of Juliet.” Lena’s head tilts curiously as she stares at Kara, wondering if she’s open to any other roles besides Juliet.

From what she saw earlier, even though it was from afar, Kara is beautiful – definitely more than fitting for the role of Juliet. But many people usually audition for multiple roles to increase their chances of having a part in the production. Then again, the only character who can do Kara justice is probably Juliet. Lena’s eyes dart over to Miss Grant, who is writing on Kara’s application for her audition.

“Hey, Lena, you there?” Sam whispers, and Lena almost falls over, startled. She can feel her heart pounding and chest heaving as she spins around to look at Sam, who is looking amusedly at her, eyebrows raised. “You’re drooling.”

Lena narrows her eyes. “We are _not_ talking about this right now,” she hisses, trying not to be affected by the blush she feels in her cheeks, which is quickly spreading to the tips of her ears. Sam merely stares at her, still amused. Her eyes are knowing, and Lena feels like they’re staring straight into her soul – her soul which happens to be thinking about how that black blazer fits Kara’s torso perfectly. “Come on!” Lena whisper-shouts in protest. “She- she’s beautiful, right?”

Sam nods with a cheeky smile, humming. “Can’t see from here, but clearly _you_ were paying enough attention to judge for yourself,” she says matter-of-factly. “We’re definitely talking about this later. For now, I’m going to do you a favor and shut up so you can watch her audition.”

Lena exhales forcefully, opening her mouth to argue, but as Miss Grant’s voice rings out in the auditorium, clearly saying something to Kara, she decides against it. She shoots one more glare at Sam (that she definitely doesn’t mean, but Sam doesn’t need to know that) before turning around and facing the stage again.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Miss Grant says to Kara, nodding once before linking her hands on the table and watching Kara intently.

Kara nods, looking at her script once before looking up again. And Lena watches, mouth agape, as she slips into a completely different person in the matter of two seconds, becoming the Juliet in the script. Her lines are fluent and full of the emotion that Lena knows is supposed to be portrayed in this scene – Miss Grant specifically chose this scene because of how hard it is to act out.

Kara doesn’t even look at the script as Miss Grant says Romeo’s lines, and she replies with exactly what’s on the script. Or, at least, what Lena thinks is on the script. Quickly, she runs past Sam, ignoring the small noise of surprise from her friend as she moves to the table backstage to grab a copy of the audition script. She stumbles back to her spot, flipping to Juliet’s audition scene, and runs her eyes over the paper, finding where Kara and Miss Grant are currently at.

Lena’s eyes train on Kara, occasionally darting to the script to see if the lines are really word for word. She can feel Sam peeking over shoulder at script, nodding along with the audition.

She has absolutely no idea why her heart is pounding, but she’s pretty sure even Sam can hear it, because the only sounds in the auditorium right now are Kara’s and Miss Grant’s voices, and Sam is right behind her. Ergo, Sam probably, definitely, can hear her traitorous heart, which happens to be beating extremely loudly for someone who isn’t even moving.

“Wow, she’s good,” Sam mutters a few minutes into the audition. “It’s all word for word.”

Lena nods in agreement, eyes never straying from Kara.

And it’s done all too soon. When Kara finishes her audition, Miss Grant actually _thanks_ her, who laughs sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair that escaped from her ponytail behind her ear. Lena blinks, having become so used to the angry and hurt character that Kara had played only moments ago. This Kara is smiley and charismatic and _bashful_ , and Lena is truly amazed at the way she can go into character so easily.

Then Kara returns to her seat, Miss Grant visibly in a better mood as she calls out the next person to come onstage, and Lena doesn’t stop staring at Kara until she feels a hand on her shoulder.

She almost yelps, but holds it in, remembering the echo in the auditorium. “You have _got_ to stop doing that,” Lena accuses, glaring at Sam, who shrugs innocently.

“I didn’t do anything, you were just too focused on _Kara Danvers_ to remember my presence behind you,” Sam replies, drawing out Kara’s name teasingly and poking Lena on the shoulder as she says it. Her eyebrows are raised in challenge, taunting Lena to present a compelling argument in response. Lena feels like retorting, but she really doesn’t have a comeback, because what Sam is saying is kind of true, and she kind of (really) has to get herself together. She’s never even _met_ Kara, and she’s already so taken by her. _It’s not healthy,_ some part of her thinks, teasing her, but she pushes it away.

“I never forgot you were there, thank you very much,” Lena mutters flatly. “How could I forget someone as annoying as you standing behind me?”

Sam pouts. “That’s mean, Lee. Don’t be like that.” Lena’s eyes narrow once more as she stares at Sam, who looks back at her, eyes twinkling.

“Like you even get offended by anything I say,” Lena retorts, raising an eyebrow. Sam opens her mouth, then closes it when she realizes that Lena is right. Lena watches as she shrugs in acceptance. “Anyway, auditions are almost done. Pizza after this?” Lena asks.

Sam grins. “You’re the best!” she whisper-shouts, nose scrunching with her smile as she pulls Lena into a hug. “You know what?” she starts as she pulls back, hands coming to rest on Lena’s upper arms. “I’ll pay today. To make up for teasing you.” When she sees Lena raising an eyebrow skeptically, she rolls her eyes good-naturedly, smiling. “There’s no catch, trust me.”

“And you won’t make fun of me while we eat?” Lena asks, eyebrow still raised. She knows Sam well enough by now to know that she’s smart. Smart enough to find a loophole in everything she says, strategically phrasing her words so that she can get what she wants. It’s never actually a bad thing, because Sam knows boundaries very well, but it can also lead to her managing to get Lena to divulge a lot of very blackmail-worthy information.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Sam replies, hand coming up to draw a cross over her heart with her finger. “You have my word.”

Lena studies her for a moment, then nods. “Okay.” And she believes Sam. After knowing her for two and a half years, it’s safe to say that Sam is one of the most amazing people she knows. She’s always there for Lena, no matter what, and she’s the perfect combination of humor and seriousness. And she loves Lena without hesitation, without question – it’s hard to find people like that, but when she does, she’s sure as hell going to keep them.

Sam grins, hooking her arm around Lena’s neck and pulling her into a side-hug. Lena thinks that it’s people like Sam who make her believe that everything happens for a reason.

//

When the auditions end, Lena and Sam finish up backstage, then make their way out of the auditorium. The door is held open when they walk out, and Lena turns to see that Kara is the one holding it open. Sam nearly laughs when she realizes what’s going on, and Lena elbows her to get her to suppress it. “Thank you!” Sam says, and Lena watches dumbly as Kara grins.

“No problem!” Kara replies cheerily. And Lena literally can’t speak, swallowing at the sight of Kara up-close. There are no words to describe the color of her eyes, and the way her smile is quite literally _glowing_ , and the curve of her lips.

She’s captivating.

Sam tugs Lena forward when she slows down unknowingly (definitely not because she was staring at Kara), and Lena yelps, loud enough for Kara to hear. Her head snaps around to see Kara looking curiously at her, and she immediately turns back around, heat rising to her cheeks and ears. “Kill me,” she mutters, taking a deep breath as Sam laughs lightly beside her. “I’m such a loser, God.”

“You’re not,” Sam assures as they walk along. “Trust me, it’s okay. And she doesn’t think you’re weird.” Lena sees Sam turn around subtly from the corner of her eye. “She’s just looking at you,” Sam observes, turning back to nudge Lena. “Maybe you should talk to her, and I can meet you back at your dorm.” Lena’s eyes widen at the thought of her tripping as she walks towards Kara, or fumbling over her words, or, knowing her luck, maybe it’ll start raining heavily in the middle of her conversation with Kara (if she’s even capable of that), and her hair is going to be soggy and wet by the time she and Kara find shelter, and she’ll look like a mess.

Lena shakes her head, trying to shake the thoughts away. “Absolutely not. I’m going to screw it up.” Before she can say anything else, she hears footsteps as someone jogs closer to her from behind. Then there’s a tap on her shoulder, and she turns around, nearly tripping over her own feet when she sees Kara standing in front of her, hands stuffed into the front pockets of her maroon jeans that _happen_ to make her legs look great. It’s a miracle that Lena keeps her balance.

_God help her._

“Hey,” Kara greets, a small, sheepish smile on her face. “I’m really sorry if I’m interrupting, or anything,” she says apologetically, looking between Lena and Sam.

Lena, like the idiot she is, just stands there, staring. After a few moments, Sam shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it, you’re not,” she assures, nudging Lena roughly enough to get her to speak.

“Yes!” she blurts at the nudge, a little loudly and on instinct. “I mean no,” she corrects quickly. “No, you’re not interrupting anything,” she says, mind scrambling to gather her thoughts. Kara looks a little more relieved at their words, her slightly tensed shoulders relaxing a little. Lena wills herself not to focus on the way the sleeves of the blazer are rolled up to Kara’s forearms, which happen to be very toned. _How do foreams even look toned?_

“Okay, good,” Kara replies, smiling even wider now, and Lena has to physically refrain herself from looking at her perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. Sam places a hand on her shoulder, grounding her, and she relaxes at the touch. “This is kinda stupid, actually,” Kara continues, one hand coming out of her pocket to rub the back of her neck. “I just… you look very familiar. You’re Lena, right? Lena Luthor,” she says, looking straight at Lena.

Lena blinks, distracted by the blue in Kara’s eyes for a moment before she remembers the question she was just asked. “Yeah, I am,” she replies, then frowns in confusion. “How do you know?” She racks her brain, trying to remember if she and Kara have met before. She doesn’t remember ever talking to Kara, and if she did, she’d definitely remember, because she’s sure that she’d never forget the first time she meets Kara. She’s sure as hell never going to forget this moment for the rest of her life. It’s too mortifying to forget.

“We’re in the same Philosophy class,” Kara replies, smiling. And Lena ponders how she’s never seen Kara before. It makes sense, to an extent – her philosophy class is gigantic, and there are so many people that Kara is probably just lost in the crowd every time. Yet, there’s a part of her that wonders what would’ve happened if she and Kara met each other before today. Would they be good friends? Would they do projects together?

Would she be as tongue-tied as she is now?

 _Probably,_ some part of her says dryly, and she pushes the thought away.

“Wow,” she says, then looks at Kara. “It’s weird that we’ve never met.” It’s also weird that she’s able to form actual coherent sentences right now, but it’s not like she’s going to complain. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s calming down from the shock of Kara actually coming up to her and talking to her and _smiling_ at her. It’s weird. Everything is weird right now, maybe save for Sam and Kara.

Or maybe it’s just her who’s weird, since Sam and Kara are literally the only other people in their vicinity, and they’re not being weird at all. _Yeah, it’s probably just her._

“It is, isn’t it?” Kara asks, ducking her head with a smile. “I’m Kara,” she introduces herself, sticking her hand out for Lena to shake. “Kara Danvers.” Lena stares at the hand for a moment, and she almost blurts ‘I know’, but stops herself just before the words tumble out of her mouth.

“Lena Luthor,” Lena replies, taking Kara’s hand and shaking it, before realizing that Kara already knows her name. She brings her free hand up and slaps it to her forehead, sighing. “Oh God, you already know that,” she says, more to herself than to Kara.

She’s conscious of that fact that her hand is still in Kara’s. She can’t help wondering how someone’s hand can be so nice to hold. Kara’s grip is firm, yet soft, and she shakes Lena’s hand like she’s actually _happy_ to meet her. Which is weird, because even Lena wouldn’t be happy to meet herself. On the other hand, it could just be the self-deprecating part of her coming out, because Kara literally looks like she’s walking sunshine, and Lena has absolutely no idea what she’s doing.

Kara chuckles, and Lena lets go of her hand as she feels her own palm getting clammy. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s funny,” Kara assures, smiling. “The good kind of funny, not the bad kind. Definitely not the bad kind, at all,” she rushes to add, hands waving around as she rambles. Then she drops her hands, not knowing what to do with them for a moment before stuffing them into the front pockets of her jeans. The action, though meaningless and absent-minded, is oddly attractive.

“Your audition,” Lena blurts, clearing her throat. _Why is she even talking about this right now?_ It probably, definitely makes her look like some sort of stalker, and maybe she _kind of_ was acting like one earlier, but it’s not her fault that she happened to be backstage during the auditions, right? “It was really good. _You’re_ really good,” she adds the last part without thinking, and fights the blush she _knows_ is creeping up on her cheeks.

Kara huffs out a small laugh, ducking her head bashfully. Her eyes catch Lena’s, a lopsided smile on her face. “Thank you,” she says, teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she bites back a grin. “Coming from you, that means more than you know,” she comments, hand coming up to adjust her glasses. It’s charming, to say the least. Definitely more charming than it should be.

“From me?” Lena asks, brows slightly furrowed in confusion.

A hand shoots out of Kara’s pocket as she gestures to Lena’s general person. “You’ve been in the backstage crew since freshman year, right? One of my good friends, Winn, talks about you a lot.” She looks at Sam, smiling at her. “You both, actually. He’s very fond of you two.” Then she sticks a hand out to Sam. “Sam, right?” she clarifies, lips curled up into a small smile.

Sam nods, shaking her hand and smiling in return. “Samantha Arias, yes. But you can call me Sam.”

Kara nods. “Yeah, Winn talks about the both of you all the time. He loves helping out in theater, and he likes to talk about all your…” she trails off, lips quirking as she tries to find the right word, “hijinks.”

“Oh,” Lena says, blinking. “That’s great, because we love him too,” she adds with a smile. “And, well, I don’t know all that much about acting, so my feedback probably isn’t as important as you think it is,” she says, laughing nervously and waving the idea off. There’s no significance in her feedback, in all honesty – the only person whose feedback is significant is Miss Grant, probably.

“Actually,” Sam chimes in. Lena’s head snaps to look at her, and she gives Sam a warning look, widening her eyes threateningly. Sam looks back at her, eyes reassuring, and she gives Lena a subtle nod and a small smile. Lena can’t do anything but sigh as Sam continues, “Lena does know about acting. She acted in middle school.”

Kara’s eyebrows raise at that, the smile on her face growing. Lena prays for lightning to strike her, or for the earth to swallow her whole – whichever happens first. But none of those things happen, and here she stands, suppressing a blush and breathing out slowly so as to reduce her sudden craving for death. “You did?” Kara questions, eyes trained on Lena, who, if she might add, was very actively (and successfully) ignoring eye contact only a second ago. The moment Kara looks at her, though, Lena can’t will herself to look away from the bright blue of her eyes.

Lena smiles tightly, hoping she gets stabbed as soon as possible. _Now would be great, actually._ “Only twice. And once was as a tree, so,” she clears her throat, “I didn’t have any lines for that one.” She remembers, clear as day, how happy she was to be a tree. Those were dark times that she has repressed as far down as she can possibly manage.

“And the other role?” Sam asks, grinning at her. Lena smiles even more tightly, thinking of the many possible ways to kill Sam and hide the body.

But the thoughts quickly fade away when she sees Kara looking at her, lips turned upwards curiously. “I was the lead,” she admits. At the sight of Kara’s face lighting up, she immediately continues, “But it’s not a big deal, really. It was a long time ago.” She’s really going to kill Sam after this. Either that, or demand a lifetime supply of pizza.

“But you got the lead either way!” Kara exclaims, beaming. “That means something. And considering the fact that you’ve been involved in theater for such a long time, I’m sure you know what good acting looks like.”

“Not always,” Lena admits, humming. “But what I _do_ know is that you’re good.” She mentally pats herself on the back for being able to say that without blushing, fumbling over her words or passing out. “You’ll definitely get the role of Juliet.”

Kara’s cheeks redden as she laughs, waving a dismissive hand. “That’s very nice of you to say,” she says, smiling, “but I don’t want to get my hopes up too high.” Which, Lena thinks is actually a very good way to go about this. But she _knows_ that Kara will get the role – her audition was so impressive that she even managed to improve Miss Grant’s mood. That’s a big accomplishment in and of itself.

“Yeah,” Lena replies offhandedly, nodding, “That’s definitely understandable. I just… you know.” She shrugs. “I think you’ll get the role,” she says sincerely, eyes staring straight into Kara’s. And she forces herself not to focus on how blue they are, and how they look like they’re glowing because of the sunlight illuminating them.

Kara grins. “I appreciate your faith in me, then.”

“It’s well-placed,” the words come out of Lena’s mouth before she even registers it, and by the time she realizes what she said, it’s too late to take it back. Maybe she doesn’t need to take it back, though, because Kara beams, eyes smiling just as much as her face.

“Thank you, Lena. Really,” Kara says, ducking her head again. “You’re too nice.” Before Lena can reply, Kara’s phone buzzes, and she smiles apologetically before taking it out of her back pocket and reading the text on the screen. “I’m sorry, I really have to go now. I’ll… see you soon, hopefully?” she asks, looking between Lena and Sam.

Lena’s quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say. It’s stupid, she knows, but Kara’s leaving and now she’s just sad, because she can quite literally talk to Kara forever. Hopefully she’ll stop fumbling over her words eventually. Sam, sensing Lena’s silent cry for help, nods with a grin. “Definitely. See you around, Kara.”

Lena nods in agreement, sticking her thumb over her shoulder to point at Sam. “What she said,” she adds lamely, relishing in Kara’s small laugh.

“It was really nice meeting you both,” Kara says, smiling widely. She walks backwards, hand coming up to wiggle her fingers in a small wave, then turns around and jogs away.

Lena lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and feels Sam’s arm come around her shoulders as they start walking towards the dorms. “Lee, you did it!” she exclaims, volume lower than usual – she’s clearly conscious of the fact that Kara is still, sort of, in their vicinity.

“Did what? Made a fool of myself?” Lena asks, shoulders slumping. “God, I am _such_ a mess.” She brings a hand up, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“You didn’t make a fool of yourself,” Sam says, shaking her head. “You said such nice things! She looked so flattered, and she was smiling the whole time. I call this a win,” she says, nudging Lena lightly. Lena doesn’t say anything for a few moments, thinking back on her interaction with Kara, then sighing.

“She literally asked me if I’m Lena Luthor, and I said yes. Then she introduced herself,” Lena starts, voice low. “And guess what I said in response? I said I’m Lena Luthor! Which was what she said, like, ten seconds before that!” she exclaims, burying her face in her hands and groaning. “Someone kill me.”

Sam laughs, lifting the hand on Lena’s shoulder to pat it. “Come on, we all get nervous sometimes. Trust me, eventually this’ll be easier and you two can be friends. Then I can be your wingwoman,” she says, waggling her eyebrows.

Lena exhales, shaking her head. “You don’t have to. I don’t think it’d be fair for her either, if I befriend her with the intention of, like, getting into her pants, or something like that,” she rambles, shrugging. Lena remembers some guy making friends with her because he wanted to get into her pants, and when he tried to force himself on her at a party, she punched him in the face. Then Sam came along, saw what was going on, and punched him in the face too. Lena smiles slightly at the memory.

“But you’re not trying to get into her pants, you’re trying to treat her right. Like any friend would treat her,” Sam replies, eyebrows raised. Lena’s brows furrow, still unconvinced, and Sam continues, “Isn’t it? Maybe you have a small crush on her. But if she didn’t want to be with you, would you be content with her friendship?”

Lena sighs.

Sam, already knowing the answer is yes, waves a hand for emphasis. “See? It’s not wrong to make friends with someone when you have a _teeny_ crush on them,” she leaves a small space between her pointer finger and thumb, closing one eye. Then she drops her hand, squeezing Lena’s shoulder. “Give yourself more credit.”

Lena runs a hand through her hair. “You really think it’s gonna get better?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Sam looks at her seriously, nodding. “I don’t _think_ , I _know_. You’re a good person, Lee, and she definitely sees that too.” After a pause, she grins. “You know what? How about we just eat pizza and play music on speaker? We’ll cross this bridge when we get to it.”

Lena smiles. “Sounds like a good plan.”

//

When the casting lists get pinned on the board in the auditorium, Lena’s unscrewing the circuit covers one of the spotlights. Winn sits beside her on the stage, wiping his hands on a wet cloth to get the dust off. He had climbed a ladder to take the spotlight down, and Lena had gone to get a toolbox. And when he went to grab a screwdriver out of the box the moment she opened it,, she insisted that he rest while she works on the circuit. He was always better with sound, anyway.

“So, Kara told me she met you and Sam yesterday after auditions,” he says. Lena removes the cover, placing it and the screwdriver on the floor. She still remembers the meeting very well, after less than twenty-four hours following the slightly humiliating experience. And, of course, how could she ever forget the color and of Kara’s eyes, and the way they shine when she’s happy?

Lena nods, going back to inspecting the circuit and noting that the fuse in the wire is off-position. She hums. “Yeah, we did.”

“That’s all?” Winn asks jokingly. Lena looks at him for a moment, seeing his teasing smile. “Just three words, nothing else to say about it?” Lena turns to the toolbox, searching through the tools in it for a pair of pliers. She leans forward and over the big spotlight, taking a closer look at the fuse.

“Well,” she starts, eyebrows raised, “what do you expect me to say about it?” She already knows what Winn wants to ask. She knows his unspoken question, but if she’s going to give him answers, then he has to ask the question first. He moves closer to the spotlight, clearly not wanting other people to hear their conversation.

“Lena, come on,” Winn says, as though the obvious goes unspoken. Which, it does, but Lena’s not going to let him have it until he asks outright. “Kara’s one of the nicest people I know. And one of the most beautiful,” he adds the last part with raised eyebrows.

“Uh huh,” Lena replies, nodding along and not giving in. “And what? You like her?” She puts the fuse back into place using the pliers, and reaches for the switch to see if the spotlight works. When the light still doesn’t come on, she switches it back off, placing the pliers on the floor and going back to inspecting the rest of the circuit.

“No,” Winn says, head tilting. “I can never see Kara as anything more than a friend. I’m asking if _you_ like her,” he says, voice lowering when someone walks past them. Luckily, they’re sitting down, and there are other crew members shuffling around and having their own conversations. The background noise easily drowns out both their voices.

“She’s definitely beautiful,” Lena admits, trying to keep her focus on the circuit. Kara’s smiling face in her head is most definitely not helping. “And she’s nice,” she continues vaguely, pausing when she spots a slightly frayed wire. She immediately grabs the soldering iron, reaching over to push the plug into the power outlet that sits right beside Winn, who is leaning against the wall that the outlet is on.

“And she seems exactly like the kind of person you’d like,” Winn adds, pointing at Lena for emphasis. At Winn’s words, Lena’s thumb pauses on the switch beside the plug. Instead of switching it on, she returns back into a comfortable sitting position, raising an eyebrow.

“The kind of person I’d like? What kind of person do I even like?” Lena asks. “Even _I_ didn’t know I had a type.”

“You don’t,” Winn agrees with a laugh. “I don’t know. After Kara told me you and Sam met her, I guess it just occurred to me that maybe you’d like her. The last person you liked was kinda mean, and in the end you realized you didn’t want to be with someone like that,” he points out. Lena remembers Veronica Sinclair, someone she dated for a few months in freshman year. “So I figured you’d like someone nice. And even if I don’t like Kara like that, I _can_ admit that she’s attractive.”

“I can admit she’s attractive, too,” Lena says, nodding. Winn looks at her expectantly, and she sighs. “Alright, fine. It’s… it’s a small crush at best,” she admits. “But I don’t know her, so I can’t really say that much.”

Winn grins, clapping in victory. “I knew it!” he exclaims.

“And what do you get out of this? Satisfaction?” Lena asks, smiling teasingly. “It doesn’t matter, Winn.” Before she can continue, the auditorium doors open, and all the students who auditioned the day before come in, making a beeline for the board with the cast list on it. She spots Kara after a few moments, coming out of the crowd at the board with a smile.

Lena turns away, sighing. “Honestly, I don’t really know what to say. Sam has a lot to say, though,” she chuckles, “so you can talk to her about it if you want.”

Winn laughs. “Nah, I won’t. You’re probably right. But hey, whatever comes out of this, I think it’ll be good for you. You deserve good things, Lena. You tend to forget that sometimes.” Lena’s heart warms at his words – it’s moments like these that make her remember how lucky she is to have friends like Winn and Sam.

Lena shrugs in response, looking at Winn with a small smile. “Maybe, but clearly, I have you and Sam to remind me if I ever forget it.” She moves her attention back to the circuit, reaching forward and pulling at the frayed wire gently to make it more accessible.

“Lena, Winn, hey!” a voice says from behind her, and immediately, she recognizes it without even having to look. Her heart skips a beat when she hears Kara’s footsteps come closer to them, and she takes a deep breath, willing her heart to calm down.

She turns around to see Kara moving to sit beside her, carefully avoiding the toolbox and circuit cover on the ground. “Hey, Kara,” she says, smiling.

Winn waves, grinning. “Kara, how’s the casting?” he asks. It’s then that Lena remembers once more about the cast list, which Kara obviously came to see.

“I got Juliet!” Kara says happily, beaming. She looks at Lena, reaching out and hesitating for a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder. Lena almost flinches at the touch, but keeps calm. Kara’s hand is warm, grip soft and calming, yet unnerving all the same. “I guess you were right,” she says with a small grin. “Thank you for believing in me.”

Lena shakes her head, still trying to calm her racing heart. “You don’t have to thank me for that. You did really great yesterday, you deserve the role,” she says sincerely, fiddling with the wires in order to avoid Kara’s intense gaze. _Why is her gaze always so intense?_

“Yeah, you really do, Kara,” Winn chimes in, smiling. “Guess we’ll be seeing you at rehearsals almost every day now, huh?”

Kara laughs. “I guess so.” Lena lets go of the wires, pulling gently at the frayed wire one last time before reaching over to the outlet beside Winn and switching on the soldering iron. She actively avoids Winn’s knowing gaze on her, instead picking up the soldering tool and leaning closer to the circuit.

If she’s being honest, Kara’s presence beside her is really not helping to keep her hands steady, and she exhales shakily, trying to focus. She can feel Kara looking at her, then moving her gaze to the soldering iron and the circuit. Slowly, Lena lowers the tool, starting from one end of the frayed part of the wire and slowly sliding it across.

“What are you doing?” Kara asks curiously, head moving slightly closer to the circuit, which also means she moves closer to Lena.

Lena, affected by their new proximity, forces herself to breathe. “It’s called soldering,” she finds herself saying, despite the fact that she’s barely paying attention to anything except trying to appear unaffected. She quickly finishes the job, then removes the soldering iron, her other hand holding the wire up to allow the solder to settle.

She hears Winn flip the switch to the power outlet, and at the sound, she puts the soldering iron down. With her newly unoccupied hand, she uses a finger to gesture to the part of the wire with the solder. “See this part?” she asks, eyes darting to Kara, only to find the blonde already gazing at her.

The moment their eyes meet, Kara turns away, as though caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to do, and looks down at the circuit. “That’s the part you just fixed,” she says, nodding.

Lena hums. “Originally, the wire was frayed. That’s why the spotlight wasn’t working.” As she reaches over to the switch on the spotlight, she prays that it’ll work this time, if not, the humiliation is going to be unimaginable. “And now,” she flips the switch, almost wincing in anticipation. She finds that her prayers were answered when the light comes on, shining brighter than ever, and she lets out a subtle relieved breath, grinning. “It’s good as new.”

She moves her eyes away from the circuit, looking at Kara, who is already staring at her, just like what happened a few moments ago. “You’re really good at this,” Kara says with a smile.

Lena ducks her head, cheeks dusted with a tinge of pink. She takes the circuit cover from the floor, placing it back on. “Anyone can do it,” she says offhandedly, making sure the cover is in place before picking the screwdriver back up. “I just happen to have experience.”

“Well, I can’t do it, for sure,” Kara replies, laughing. “How did you learn all of this?” she asks. Lena can feel Kara’s eyes on her.

“My family is very good with technology,” Lena replies, tightening the screws in the circuit cover one by one. “I dabbled here and there in middle school. Then all through high school, I chose to be in the backstage crew instead of the cast. So I got the hang of it from there as well,” she explains, recalling all the times she had to repair spotlights and microphones in high school.

“Wow,” Kara says. Lena looks up at the almost breathless way she says the word. “That’s really impressive.”

Lena, heart pounding and hands shaking (which she hopes Kara doesn’t notice), finishes tightening the screws, then reaches over Kara to place the screwdriver back in the toolbox. “That’s one way to put it,” Lena replies, laughing. “I’ve been doing this a long time. It’s like second nature to me.”

“Doesn’t make it any less impressive.” Kara gives her a cheeky smile, shrugging. Lena stares at her for a moment, enchanted, before realizing what she’s supposed to be doing. She picks up the pliers from the ground and reaches over Kara to put them back in the toolbox.

Stealing a glance at Kara, Lena gives her a small smile. “I’d say the same about your acting,” she says in kind, reaching over to the wall to take the plug for the soldering iron out of the power outlet and putting it away.

Kara opens her mouth to protest, but before she can speak, Lena continues while packing up the tools on the ground, “If you argue back and say something about how there are better actors out there, you’d be a hypocrite, because just like how soldering being second nature to me ‘doesn’t make it any less impressive’,” she uses air quotes, “better actors don’t make your acting any less impressive. _And_ your view would be subjective. Since I’m entitled to my own opinion, you can’t dispel it.”

When Lena turns around, she comes face to face with a pouting Kara. As in, Kara who already looks like a cute puppy, looking even more like a cute puppy. For a moment, she blinks, staring dumbly. At the sound of Winn clearing his throat, she snaps out of her trance. Then she remembers why Kara is pouting, and smiles victoriously. “So not only are you good with machines and technology, you’re also good at debating,” Kara says, huffing in a pretense of frustration.

Lena laughs. “I like to think it’s just using reason to prove a point,” she rephrases with a grin.

Kara rolls her eyes good-naturedly, pout turning into a smile. Her eyes are smiling again, along with the rest of her face, and Lena is all but captivated. “It’s called attacking people with words, smartass,” Kara replies, chuckling.

Lena gasps mockingly, placing a hand on her chest. “Kara Danvers _swears_? I guess I really don’t know that much about you after all.”

“I don’t swear much,” Kara admits, rubbing a sheepish hand on the back of her neck. “Only on occasion.”

“Especially when someone takes her potstickers or pizza,” Winn chimes in. Lena and Kara both look over at him. At Kara’s laugh, he chuckles along. Looking at Lena, he explains, “This one over here,” he points an accusing finger at Kara, “had a bad day, and when she saw me with one of her potstickers, she called me an asshole.”

“Well, everyone knows not to take my potstickers! Let alone on a bad day,” Kara replies, smiling at the absurdity of the conversation – they went quickly from soldering, to acting, to food. Lena has to look away from her to keep herself from grinning too hard, or doing anything stupid. Winn makes a noise of indignation.

“I wasn’t taking it,” he says with a laugh. “You were eating so fast that one dropped out of the container and onto the table. I was putting it back for you.”

Kara laughs. “Alright, I concede. It was my bad. And you’re truly an _amazing_ friend for wanting to help me keep my potsticker clean and hygienic,” she says exaggeratedly.

“Sure, sure,” Winn says sarcastically, pushing himself up into a standing position. “Anyway, it’s really great that you two are getting along swell, but I do need to put the spotlight back, so you may want to take this conversation somewhere else,” he suggests. He gives Lena a knowing look, and as Kara is busy standing up, he waggles his eyebrows. Lena’s about to kill him with her eyes when Kara’s voice catches her attention.

“It’s fine, I have to go tell Alex about my role anyway,” Kara says, waving a dismissive hand. When she realizes that Lena doesn’t know who Alex is, she explains, “Alex is my older sister. She’s a senior here.” At Kara’s fond look, Lena wonders how close Kara and her sister really are – she and Lex have never been all that close, so she’s never been particularly familiar with what it’s like to have a sibling to confide in.

“Sure,” Winn replies. “Rehearsals start tomorrow. Don’t be late!” he exclaims from the top of the ladder, and Kara grins up at him, then turns to Lena.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Kara asks, and for a moment, Lena actually thinks she sounds hopeful.

Lena nods with a smile. “Yeah, see you.”

Then Kara waves to both her and Winn, the same wave she did yesterday, before heading out of the auditorium.

And as Lena's standing up carrying the toolbox, having closed it after packing up all the tools, she can swear she sees Kara from the corner of her eye, pausing at the door and casting one last look in her direction. But when she turns to take a closer look, Kara is already gone, and the door is already closing.

//

The first day of rehearsals starts out busy. Lena has to run around making sure that the sound system is working perfectly, and that the lights are just as perfect. Considering the fact that she had to repair the spotlight the day before, there’s a chance that the other spotlights may have been faulty as well – every spotlight had to be tested while the cast had a small practice session where they sat in the theater’s seats and recited their lines. Lena and Winn were tasked to make sure that the lights could shine in all the colors of the rainbow, and normal white.

She tries not to look at Kara. Kara, who is reciting her lines perfectly even though she’s sitting in a chair and doesn’t have much space to move her hands, or move around in general. Kara, who is able to sound emotional even while sitting in an auditorium seat. Kara, who actually makes it sound like she loves Mike Matthews, the guy playing Romeo. His acting is mediocre at best, but every other guy is worse, so he ended up clinching the role of Romeo. Lena remembers him being casted in the spring production, too.

It’s odd what a classic frat boy he is. Not only is he literally in a frat, but he also has parties in the dorms, and drinks till he passes out whenever he gets the chance to. Lena once heard that he and his friends had a competition on how many girls they could sleep with in a month, and he won. And while it may not be true, she won’t be surprised if it is. She’d thought that kind of thing was reserved for movies and books – that, or high school.

She can hear them wrapping up their read-through as she looks up at the spotlights hanging from the ceiling, ensuring that they’re are working well and shining brightly.

“Lena, Witt!” Miss Grant exclaims, looking towards her and Winn, who are standing on the stage and testing the spotlights.

“Uh, Miss Grant, it’s actually Winn,” Winn replies cautiously, clearing his throat. Lena grins at him while he sends her a subtle shrug. Miss Grant’s never gotten his name right even though he’s been helping out since their freshman year, and there’s a betting pool going on among all the backstage crew members on whether she’s calling him Witt on purpose, or if she genuinely doesn’t bother to remember his name. Lena’s betting on the former.

“That’s good to know,” Miss Grant. “Another thing that would be good to know is if the sound system and lights are working well. And if everything is prepared,” she says. Lena’s eyes dart towards the cast, who sit surrounding Miss Grant, and she spots Kara among them. She’s already smiling at Lena, and raises her hand to give her a small wave. Lena’s heart skips a beat as she smiles back.

“Yes, it’s all done, Miss Grant,” Winn assures with a frantic nod, turning around and picking up the ladder under the spotlights, moving it backstage where it belongs.

“Great. Let’s not waste any time, then. We’ll begin rehearsals right away,” Miss Grant says. The cast members get up from their seats at her words, getting up and onto the stage. “We’ll start with scene one and go in order from there,” Miss Grant continues, looking down at the script on her table.

Lena quickly moves backstage, Winn coming to stand beside her as Mike gets ready on the stage with a few other actors. She watches as Mike says something to another frat boy, and they both burst into laughter – probably from whatever joke Mike just told.

“Mark and friend, concentrate,” Miss Grant says from her seat. Lena can’t see her from where she’s standing, but she can see Winn’s shoulders shaking with laughs beside her, and she herself starts to shake with silent laughter. It’s only a few moments later that she notices Kara approaching them.

“Hi,” Kara whispers as she smiles. Winn looks questioningly at Kara, who seems to understand his unspoken question: why is she backstage if she’s the female lead? “The first scene is about Romeo,” she explains.

Winn’s eyebrows raise. “When are you needed then?” he asks. Lena looks at Kara, who rocks back and forth on her feet, watching the first scene being acted out onstage.

“Second scene,” Kara replies. “So maybe in about three minutes or so.” There’s a furrow in her brows as Mike says a line, and Lena realizes why her brow is furrowing when she hears Miss Grant cut him off.

“Wrong line, Max!” Miss Grant shouts. “There’s a script in your hand, I suggest you use it. I’d rather you use it now and have your lines perfected in time, than for you to act like you have them memorized, only to let your arrogance and pride get in the way of the success of this production.”

Mike clears his throat from his place on the stage, looking a little frustrated, but he doesn’t say anything as the rehearsal continues. Lena notices that he reads from his script this time, so as to not get the line wrong.

“How hard was it to act like you loved Mike in the read-through just now?” Winn asks, arms crossed as he looks at Kara in question. Lena’s ears perk at the question, and she turns to look at Kara, too.

Kara shakes her head, laughing a little. “I wasn’t acting like I loved _Mike_ , I was acting like I loved _Romeo_. Mike just happens to be the one playing him.” She shrugs, hand coming up to adjust her glasses. Lena wonders if maybe that’s how Kara does it – not only does she slip into her character, she pretends that everyone else are their characters as well, and not the people playing them.

“But Mike is so…” Winn trails off, nose scrunching up, “ _Mike_. I don’t know how you can just… I don’t know, so effortlessly look past that and pretend you’re madly in love with him.” There’s a pause before Winn speaks again, “This is the dude who had a competition with his friends on who could sleep with the most girls in a month.” He shakes his head in disappointment, and maybe a little bit of disgust.

Kara purses her lips, shrugging. “It’s hard sometimes, to really act like it. Sometimes I try to pretend I’m looking at someone I really care about. That tends to work.” Before Kara can say anything else, her cue is called. “Well, that’s my cue,” she quips, shooting a smile at Lena and Winn before walking out of the curtains and onto the stage.

And it’s truly captivating, how she switches from Kara to Juliet. It happens so quickly that Lena barely notices the change, but she can see that Kara becomes a different person. Her shoulders are more squared as Juliet, and her smile is slightly more controlled. Kara also happens to be the only person on the stage not using the script, even though she’s holding her copy of it in her hand.

Under the spotlight, Kara looks more beautiful than ever. Her hair reflects the light coming from above her, giving her an ethereal look, and her eyes speak volumes as to how her character is feeling. Her voice is loud and clear, but she doesn’t sound like she’s straining it.

She commands the attention of everyone in the room without even trying.

Lena feels a nudge on her shoulder. “If you don’t want everyone in this room to know that you like her, you may want to tone down on the heart-eyes. I can feel them from here, and you aren’t even looking at me,” Winn whispers, leaning closer to her so that other people don’t eavesdrop.

Lena coughs, refusing to make eye contact with him as she trains her eyes on the stage. “There are no heart-eyes over here,” she hisses, eyebrows raised threateningly. “I am simply observing the scene very intensely.”

Winn hums, and in her peripheral vision, Lena sees him nodding. “You mean observing _Kara_ very intensely,” he corrects teasingly.

Lena smiles tightly. “Winn,” she whispers, and he hums in question. “If you continue this, you may find that the black body field generator I made for you suddenly goes missing,” she says through gritted teeth. When he stays silent, save for a small squeak, she finally turns to look at him. “Anything else to say?” she asks with a saccharine smile.

Winn shakes his head. “Nope, nothing.”

Lena gives him a pleased nod, looking back at the stage, where Kara is still delivering her lines with ease. “Good.”

After Miss Grant changes some stage directions and informs the crew about how to adjust the lighting to fit the scene, they stop at the end of the fourth scene of the first act. Lena peeks her head out to look at Miss Grant as she speaks. “For a first trial, not bad,” she says with a nod. Now, there are still some props need to be completed, so for the rest of today, we’ll be doing that. Cast members are free to leave if you want to, those who want to stay and paint the props are welcome to remain here with the crew.”

Mike immediately meets up with the rest of his friends, most of them playing extras, and they walk out of the auditorium, talking loudly and shouting at each other. Lena sees Miss Grant roll her eyes at them, and at the sight, she bites back a laugh.

“Wanna paint the house?” Winn asks from behind her, and she turns back to look at him.

“Sure, let’s go,” she replies with a small smile, shrugging. They make their way over to the big house and grab some big brushes, painting on different parts of the big prop. She feels the presence of someone coming to stand beside her and painting the section right next to the one she’s working on.

“Hey.” She recognizes the voice as Kara’s, and turns to look at the smiling blonde. Up close, she can see a scar on above Kara’s eyebrow, and she wonders how she never noticed that before. Kara’s cheeks are slightly pink, as though she’s blushing, but under the slightly dim lighting of the auditorium, Lena can’t tell if she’s actually blushing, or if it’s just a figment of her imagination.

“Hi,” Lena replies, smiling back at Kara. “You did well,” she compliments, remembering how well Kara stayed in character. “I can’t believe you managed to stay in character when Mike was messing his lines up left and right.”

Kara bursts out laughing at that, muffling the sound into her upper arm when she hears it echo throughout the auditorium. Lena grins amusedly when she sees Kara look at her with wide eyes, clearly not expecting it to be that loud. “He was,” Kara whispers, nose scrunching up with laughter. “I had to physically refrain from laughing the whole time.”

“If I were you, I’d have laughed so hard, I probably would’ve passed out,” Lena replies, grinning when Kara laughs even harder at her words.

“Hey, where’s Sam? I haven’t seen her at all today,” Kara observes, looking around the auditorium before going back to painting. Lena chances a glance at her, seeing that the sleeves of her collared jacket are pushed up to her elbows.

“She has a very tight schedule today, lots of classes,” Lena informs, bending down to dip her paintbrush into the bucket of paint. “She’ll be coming for rehearsal tomorrow, though.” Kara hums happily, an acknowledgement of her answer, as she reaches past Lena to retrieve more paint.

“So, I, uh, kind of want to get to know you better. If you don’t mind, of course,” Kara pauses, and her painting movements are slower as she turns to look at Lena, who nods encouragingly and shoots her a small smile. Kara grins back in return, and, as though she has a list of questions written out in her head, she fires away, “Why did you decide to do theater, of all things?”

“Let’s make it question for a question,” Lena says after a moment. “Is that okay?”

Kara nods, smiling. “Sounds like a good idea.” Lena nods and beams in return, crouching onto one knee to paint the lower part of the house.

“Why I decided to do theater has multiple answers,” Lena starts, memories of middle school and high school flooding through her mind. “I decided to do theater in middle school because I wanted to be cool, and I thought that getting the role in the school musical was quite literally the _coolest_ thing that you can ever do in your life,” Lena says, grinning up at Kara, who chuckles.

“I didn’t peg you as the type to care if you were cool or not,” Kara replies, eyebrows raised as she looks down at Lena.

Lena shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m not. Well, not anymore. Haven’t been for a long time, but that was middle school me,” she recalls, laughing. “In high school, I decided that I liked helping out backstage because it make me feel like I was making a contribution. Like I had a purpose. And because I was good with technology, I could fix a lot of malfunctioning problems, and so on.”

Kara nods along, humming to herself as she paints. Lena reaches down, moving the bucket of paint in between the both of them to make it more accessible to Kara. When Kara notices, she smiles. “Thanks,” she says softly, and Lena grins back at her in response.

“Why I decided to do theater is college is simple. I’m ahead in all of my classes, so I have a lot of free time. So, after one semester in freshman year of rotting away during my free time, I decided to join the backstage crew for the spring musical. Then, after that, I continued helping out with more productions, and here we are now,” Lena finishes, shrugging. A small smile makes its way onto her features when she thinks about her experience in college theater. “I’ve met many great people here, so I’m grateful I decided to give it a try.”

Kara smiles. “That’s a very meaningful evolution,” she comments, and Lena chuckles slightly.

“Question for a question,” Lena reminds, retrieving more paint. “Why did _you_ choose theater?”

Kara hums thoughtfully. “I’ve never had experience with acting, ever. This is my first time ever auditioning for any production.” Lena looks up at her, surprised, and Kara nods. “But, there was one time where Winn stole the script for the spring production earlier this year, and he wanted to read the lines with me as dramatically as possible. I was really bored, so I agreed.”

Lena laughs, imagining Winn pounding on Kara’s door and showing her the script, telling her that they should exaggerate the lines for fun. Then she pictures Kara’s confused face, until Winn explains it to her, and him convincing her to agree.

“After we acted very dramatically,” Kara continues with a small chuckle, “he told me that I seemed like a good actor. So he asked me to try actually acting out the scenes. I was kind of embarrassed to do it at first, but eventually he convinced me that there was nothing to be ashamed of, so I did it. Then he told me I should audition for a production in the future. I heard about modernized Romeo and Juliet, and decided to just go for it.”

Lena nods in approval, a grin on her face. “It was a good choice. You got the lead, didn’t you?” She still remembers Kara’s beautiful audition – how can she forget it when she’s reminded of it every time Kara effortlessly slips in and out of character? It’s a wonder that Kara has never auditioned before; she would’ve gotten a role in every production if she started auditioning in freshman year.

Kara laughs, shoulders bouncing in a shrug. “I guess so.” After a short moment, she continues, “Okay, next question.” At this point, Lena is convinced that she has a list full of questions prepared somewhere.

“Do you like Disney movies?”

Lena laughs, head tipping back. Her eyes catch Kara’s as the blonde looks down at her, and she can see the gleam in Kara’s eyes, even from her position. “Yes, I do.” Kara does a small fist pump, letting out a small cheer. Lena thinks it’s quite possibly the cutest thing she’s ever seen in her life. “Do _you_?” she counters, one eyebrow raised.

“Of course I do!” Kara exclaims, like it’s the obvious. “Anyone who doesn’t like Disney movies doesn’t know what true art is.” Lena laughs again, shaking her head at Kara’s blatant disapproval towards people who aren’t fond of Disney movies.

“Next question!” Kara says, grinning. Lena seriously should start looking for a physical list – maybe it’s in her pocket? Maybe it’s invisible? Or maybe Kara’s just that spontaneous. “What’s your life dream?”

Lena’s eyebrows arch at the question. “Wow, that’s quite a loaded question.” She’s never thought about it much – and by ‘never thought about it much’, she means she thinks about it pretty much all the time. Her mother used to tell her that career and making a living was the most important thing in life, but over the course of her life, her mentality has changed.

Ever since she came into college, she’d been drifting even further from her family than she already was before, and because she’s not very close with her family anymore, she’s had the privilege of being able to make her own decisions and form her own opinions. And now that she’s had that freedom for a while, she feels like her priorities have changed a lot – they’ve evolved along with her personality and feelings towards different aspects of life. While she does know that making a living is important, she doesn’t necessarily agree that it’s the _most_ important.

“To make up for how shallow the previous question was,” Kara replies cheekily, waggling her eyebrows at Lena.

Lena shakes her head with a small laugh. “I thought you’d argue that whether someone likes Disney movies or not is one of the most important questions to ask. It could make or break friendships,” she says, nodding exaggeratedly.

Kara rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “It was a simple question,” she corrects her previous statement, and when Lena nods in approval, she chuckles. “Okay, now that that’s settled,” she waves it off, “what’s your life dream?”

Lena’s head tilts, her movements slowing down as she contemplates the question. “My mother used to tell me that getting a high-paying job and making a living was most important. She always taught me to prioritize my career,” she recounts, pursing her lips. “And since I came from a rather… wealthy background, my family wanted me to be successful.”

Kara nods along, more serious now. She seems to sense that Lena’s sobered up a little, and that the banter can be saved for later. “And what do _you_ want?” she asks. Lena thinks that it’s odd – a question so simple is practically impossible to answer.

“I used to just follow what they said,” Lena says, sighing. “Until I started to drift from them. Then I started to have my own opinions, and started making my own decisions. And while I understand the importance of having a stable job, I know this is kinda cliché, but I think being with the people you love is more important than anything.”

Kara grins. “Completely agree,” she says happily, reaching down to retrieve more paint. She doesn’t stand up, though, she stays crouched on one knee, just like Lena, their eyes now at the same level. Kara shoots her an encouraging smile, and she smiles in return.

“I don’t know if it’s really desperate, or lame,” Lena starts, biting her lip. She focuses her attention on the spot she’s painting, unable to look Kara in the eyes as she continues, “I just… I’ve always wanted to find, you know, _the one_. I don’t know if ‘the one’ even exists, maybe it’s just a myth,” she rambles. “But I’ve always wanted to find someone to spend the rest of my life with. Someone I can love, who loves me back just the same. And while I can live without having it, I admit that I’ll be pretty disappointed if it doesn’t happen.”

And a breath of relief escapes her lungs when she finishes – she’s never told anyone that before. She wonders, for a brief moment, why she’s telling Kara this when she’s only known her for less than three days. She’s never admitted that to anyone; she’s always suppressed it and kept it a secret. But one look into Kara’s warm blue eyes, and she finds herself spilling her guts.

_God help her._

“Lena,” Kara starts, completely halting her painting. Then she stares at Lena – a stare that Lena definitely feels, a stare that Lena definitely sees in her peripheral vision – until Lena finds it in herself to turn and look at her. It’s only when Lena looks at her that she finally continues. “It’s not desperate, and it’s not lame,” she says. She doesn’t sound mad, or upset, she simply says it like it’s a fact that can never be disproved.

Lena simply stares at her, blinking. Kara looks determined to prove the point to her – there’s this passion that burns in her eyes, yet behind that fire is softness that somehow manages to shine through. It’s then that Lena truly realizes why people say that the eyes are windows to the soul. Kara has the most beautiful, caring soul, and it’s depicted so obviously in her eyes.

“I think it’s amazing,” Kara continues softly, smiling. “It’s amazing that you want to find love. It’s amazing that… that you just…” she looks away for a moment, trying to find the right words, “that you love so much, and so hard that all you hope for is to have the same thing in return.”

Lena blinks, again. There are a few moments where they stand there, both crouched down on one knee, both holding paint brushes, both staring at each other. Kara’s eyes still have the fire in them, but it’s more tamed, and the determination in them is now replaced with even more warmth than before. Lena just stares at her in wonder.

In wonder of how she’s never thought of it like that before. In wonder of how she’s never considered that maybe the reason why she wants love is because she wants _to_ love. In wonder of how in a matter of seconds, Kara has moved her entire world, as she knew it, on its axis – without even trying or knowing that she was doing it.

“I…” she trails off. “I guess I’ve just never thought of it that way before,” she says quietly, ducking her head.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Kara says gently. “You deserve so much more than you think you do, Lena.”

Lena looks up at her. “How do you know that?”

Kara’s head tilts, blue eyes staring right into Lena’s. “Because you give so much to the world without asking for anything in return,” she answers. There’s no hesitation in her voice. There’s a gentle conviction, but there’s no assertion. She doesn’t say it like she’s trying to convince Lena that it’s true.

She says it like it _is_ true. She says it so simply, like there’s no truer statement, and Lena just can’t fathom how a single person has so much belief in her. A person like Kara, who has absolutely no reason to believe in her, to have faith in her. Yet, she does – she doesn’t even consider for even a moment if her faith is misplaced, she just makes it seem like she _knows_ it’s not.

And it’s that realization that makes Lena put her paintbrush down and pull Kara into a hug.

There’s hesitation at first. Her arms wrap around Kara’s shoulders, light and ready to pull away if she’s overstepped. And there’s a split second where Kara flinches ever so slightly, shocked by the action. Lena almost pulls away, but then she feels Kara’s arms wrap around her waist, safe, comforting and _warm_. “Thank you,” she whispers, her lips right in front of Kara’s ear.

She can hear the smile in Kara’s voice when she replies in her own whisper, “Anytime.”

And it’s only when Lena’s sitting in her late afternoon lecture, smiling to herself, that she realizes she forgot to ask Kara a question in return.

//

Lena goes to rehearsal every day.

And every day that she goes, she sees Kara there. Sometimes, she’s there when Kara has classes, and during those times, she always looks toward the auditorium door every time it opens to see if it’s Kara strolling in after a class. She only does it when Winn and Sam are not around, though, because they’ll definitely make fun of her for it.

She’ll never admit it to anyone.

But eventually, Kara will come in with a smile, and make a beeline for the backstage area where Lena is. Sometimes, Winn is there with her too, but since he works mostly on sound, he occasionally can be found playing games on his phone in the sound booth. Sam, wanting to make the most of her senior year, takes more classes than them, so she only comes a few times a week.

Whenever Kara attends rehearsal, Lena gets to know her a little better.

They play the back and forth game, and every time, Lena forgets to ask Kara about her life dream. And by the time she actually remembers, Kara already has to rehearse her lines with Mike and the rest of the cast. Besides that one question, however, she gets to know about Kara’s favorite movies, books and hobbies. She finds that talking to Kara is easy – way easier than she expected it to be. Considering the fact that she nearly passed out the first time they interacted, she thinks that she’s made a lot ofprogress thus far.

Sam was right – it gets easier. Her heart still skips a beat when she sees Kara, but she doesn’t have difficulty talking to her or coming up with things to say anymore. Conversation flows easily, and they seem to connect in a way that Lena knows is rare. It’s rare to be able to understand someone just by the expression on their face, but after about six weeks of seeing Kara every day, she finds that she can read her better now.

She can read the crinkle between Kara’s brows when she’s upset, and the small downward curl in her lips when she’s tired. She can read the way Kara’s eyes are just a little dimmer when her smile is forced, and the way Kara’s eyes light up when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about. When Lena mentions anything about Kara’s friends and family, she sees the way Kara’s smile grows, and her hands move more, and it’s so unbelievably _obvious_ that she loves them more than anything.

She comes to realize that the more she gets to know Kara better, the more comfortable she feels around her.

Not only that, but she finds herself falling for Kara.

Which isn’t a bad thing, per se; but it can make things very difficult for her sometimes, especially when she gets this inexplicable urge to just lean forward and kiss Kara in the middle of a conversation, for no reason other than the fact that she looks beautiful – which she always does, so really, the urge is there more often than Lena would like. Not that she even wants to have this urge to begin with.

And watching Kara rehearse doesn’t make things easier for her, by any means. Kara is an excellent actress, and she recites her lines perfectly. It makes Lena wonder if maybe she practices her lines in her free time, and then she starts to imagine Kara pacing back and forth in her dorm room, reading the lines out. Then Lena feels like asking her if she needs help rehearsing, just so she can help Kara and be Romeo at the same time – until she remembers that it’s insanely cliché and probably a terrible idea.

Kara seems to have her lines down already anyway, if the way she’s acting her part out perfectly is anything to by.

“Okay, that’ll be all for now,” Miss Grant says when they finish the scene. “Now that we’re about eight weeks away from the performance day, it’s time we do costume fitting,” she announces. “Kara, Miles, please go to Witt and Lena for fitting. Everyone else, the other crew members will settle. Sam, please supervise.” Then she goes back to writing whatever she’s writing, like she never said anything to begin with.

Sam, who is at the other side of the backstage area, jogs across the stage to meet Lena and Winn, who are already getting the measuring tapes from the storeroom. Grabbing a few pens and some paper, she walks up to them. “Do you guys need to write down the measurements?” Sam asks as Kara and Mike approach them.

Winn looks between Mike and Kara. “Okay, so… one of you are going to go into the small fitting room over there,” he points to the fitting room a few feet away. “Because, you know, it’d be weird for you two to just strip into your underwear and stand beside each other. Whoever wants more privacy, the room is yours.” Lena grabs a few measuring tapes, turning around to smile gratefully at Sam as she grabs a pen and paper from her. Sam grins back at her, taking her pen and writing down ‘Kara’ and underlining the name on the piece of paper.

Lena looks dryly at her. “What are you doing?”

Sam shrugs. “Do you want to measure Mike while Winn measures Kara? Makes more sense if you measure Kara, in my opinion. Anyway, I have to oversee the other cast members’ fittings. I’ll see you later,” she whispers, winking suggestively before darting away.

Lena turns back to see Mike lifting up his shirt, and staring at his abs. “I don’t mind being out here. I’ve got nothing to hide,” he says with a grin, shrugging nonchalantly.

Lena can feel Winn refraining from slapping his palm to his forehead. “Okay,” Winn replies, nodding. His eyes are shut from disappointment, then he sighs and he turns to look at Kara. “ _Anyway_ ,” he continues, “Kara, you can take the room. Lena will do the fitting for you.”

Lena clears her throat as Kara turns to look at her with a small smile, and she can hear her own heartbeat thudding in her ears as she walks toward the closed door that she can feel taunting her. She’s going to see Kara in her underwear for an extended period of time, and that’s definitely not going to help with her stupid crush – then again, it’s better than measuring Mike. Opening the door, she holds it open for Kara as she enters the room.

“Thanks,” Kara says, grinning. Lena nods, giving her a small smile in return before turning to the wall beside the door frame and switching on the lights. Kara walks further into the room, looking around, while Lena steps toward the door to close it. “This is such a cute room,” Kara comments, lips curled and eyes roaming over the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that pretty much act as walls.

The only plain opaque wall is the wall that the door is on, and then rest of the walls are just mirrors. It’s not the typical room in theaters, really – it’s more like a fitting room in a store. Or a small dance studio.

God, Lena is _so_ not making it through this.

“It’s been here for a very long time,” Lena replies as she moves a small table to the middle of the room, placing the pen and paper on it. Holding one end of the rolled up measuring tape, she lets the other end fall, then grabs it once it’s unrolled. “I hope you, uh, don’t mind all the mirrors. If it makes you uncomfortable, we can do this somewhere else.”

Kara walks to the middle of the room, coming to stand a few feet away from the table. She shakes her head, blonde curls bouncing with the action. “I don’t mind,” she quips, a lopsided smile playing on her lips.

“Okay,” Lena says, nodding, then pauses. “Do you want me to go out while you…” she trails off, biting her lip and looking away. She can feel the blush creep onto her cheeks as Kara lets out a small laugh. This is the day she dies, she just knows it. Maybe she should pick out a nice coffin – Winn mentioned that they sell coffins on the Walmart online store. And maybe she should take a nice headshot for the honorary picture, too.

“It’s fine,” Kara dismisses, beaming. And there’s no warning as she takes off her sweater without a care. Lena nearly squeaks, but she holds it in; instead, she immediately ducks her head, spreading the inner side of her hand over her eyebrows and keeping her eyes on the ground. Then she sees Kara take off her shoes, lifting her feet as black skinny jeans are pulled off each leg.

_What sin did Lena commit in her past life to deserve this torture?_

“Lena,” Kara says softly. “Hey, you alright?” she asks. Lena nods, clearing her throat before removing her hand and trying to act like there’s absolutely nothing wrong even though there is definitely something wrong, and that something is the fact that she really needs to get it together.

“Peachy,” Lena assures, managing a smile. Her hands tighten on the measuring tape in her hands as she tears her eyes away from Kara’s matching set of black lace underwear. There’s a moment where she wonders if Kara just wears sexy matching underwear every day. Then she feels her mind wandering to all the times they’ve talked, imagining if Kara wore this kind of underwear every single time-

_Jesus, she really needs to stop._

“Have you done costume fittings before?” Kara asks quizzically as Lena steps closer to her. Lena nods, the lump in her throat preventing her from speaking. Quickly, she forces it down, hoping Kara doesn’t hear her throat bob as she steps up behind her. Raising the measuring tape, she focuses on measuring the length across Kara’s shoulders.

“A few times,” Lena replies, moving back to the table to write the measurement down. Kara’s eyes follow Lena as she steps behind her once more, and their eyes lock for a moment in the mirror before Lena looks away, letting out a breath. She holds onto one end of the measuring tape, extending her arm through the gap between Kara’s arm and torso while the other arm circles around her waist to grab the tape.

Her very conscious effort not to touch Kara is in vain when her wrist brushes the skin on Kara’s waist. “Sorry,” she whispers, swallowing the lump forming in her throat.

“Wait, wait,” Kara says, almost sighing it out, and Lena retracts her hands immediately, arm brushing Kara’s waist again as she pulls them back. Kara turns around, facing her with furrowed brows. “You’re uncomfortable.” It doesn’t come out as a question.

Lena shakes her head, frowning, “No, no, I’m not. I’m sorry, I just…” she trails off, then pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry.” Of course, she can’t even handle herself around Kara enough to do a simple costume fitting.

Lena feels a hand on her wrist, pulling her arm down. Kara’s eyes catch hers, the same softness in them that Lena has become accustomed to over the last few weeks. “Lena, there’s nothing to apologize for,” Kara replies, the crinkle between her eyebrows deepening. “If you… if you’re uncomfortable, or don’t want to do the costume fitting for me, you don’t have to.”

“No!” Lena exclaims immediately, then clears her throat, calming down. “No, it’s not… it’s not you, or anything like that. I just, you know, I don’t want this to be awkward and I don’t know if you have any boundaries or anything, and I’m kind of trying really hard not to…” _Stare,_ she finishes internally.

“To…?” Kara trails off questioningly.

Lena shakes her head. “Nothing, I just… if we’re going to do this, I’ll inevitably end up touching you. So I hope you’re okay with that.”

Kara blinks, and Lena’s about to drown in her own humiliation, or take her words back, or just kill herself somehow, but then Kara speaks, “That’s fine, of course you can touch me.” Lena bites back a smile as Kara blushes, clearly just realizing how they sounded. “I mean, you know,” she waves a hand, “you know what I mean.”

Lena nods, a little more relieved now, and holds up the measuring tape. “So I’ll continue?”

Kara nods in return, beaming as she turns back around the face the mirror. Lena walks around her, deciding this would be easier from the front because the light is brighter on Kara’s front as compared to on her back, which will make the measurements easier to read. And she reaches around Kara again, almost like a hug without touching, and grabs the measuring tape with both hands to circle it around her waist. She uses her thumb to press one end of the tape against Kara’s stomach (which she was most definitely _not_ staring at, she just happened to notice), trying not to think about how toned it is.

_Maybe she should stop thirsting after her friend, for one second._

Quickly, she takes the measurement, walking over to the table to write it down again. It’s then that she remembers how she’s been wanting ask Kara about her life dream for the past few weeks. “So,” she starts, coming to stand in front of Kara once more. Kara hums cheerily in response. “Do you remember the first day we played the ‘question for a question’ game?” she asks quietly, wrapping the measuring tape around Kara’s upper arm.

Kara nods, smiling. “The third day we ever spoke with each other,” she informs happily.

Lena laughs a little at the delight in Kara’s voice. “Yes,” she confirms, smiling in return even though she’s not looking at Kara. She walks over to the table to write down the measurement, and this time, when she comes to stand in front of Kara again, she doesn’t continue the measurements just yet. “Do you remember the last question you asked me that day?” she asks, watching as Kara’s eyes swirl with thought.

Then realization dawns on her. “I asked about your life dream,” Kara says, gazing at Lena. Lena nods in response, trying to seem unaffected as she reaches around Kara’s bust. The action automatically forces her body forward, and she keeps her gaze on Kara’s shoulder as her head draws closer to Kara’s.

She can feel Kara’s breath on her cheek as she speaks, “Yes, and then I forgot to ask you about yours.” She moves behind Kara, maneuvering such that her hands are still on the tape, because God forbid if she has to put her thumb on Kara’s bra. She walks over to the table once she has the measurement, writing it down then returning to the spot in front of Kara.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Kara replies with a small laugh. Lena crouches down on one knee, wrapping the measuring tape around her thigh. “I guess my life dream is to be with the people I love. Similar to yours, actually,” she notes, and Lena can hear the smile in her voice. “And I thought a lot about what you said. The whole ‘finding _the one_ ’ thing that we discussed.”

Lena stands, humming to show she’s paying attention as she moves to table, writing the measurement down.

It’s only when Lena returns to stand in front of Kara again that the blonde continues, “You’re right.” Lena pauses at the words, eyes finding Kara’s curiously. Kara smiles at her, shrugging. “We can’t live without love. And I wouldn’t want to. Finding someone to spend the rest of your life with sounds like one of the most amazing things that you can ever do. You’re right.” There’s a pause before Kara speaks again. “So I guess I want to find love, too. Even if it _is_ cliché,” she says teasingly.

Lena grins. “I’m glad someone is as lame as me,” she jokes, crouching to measure Kara’s calf.

“It’s not lame,” Kara reiterates, but her voice is light. “But even if it is,” she says, waiting for Lena to look up from writing the measurement down. “I’m grateful that I’ve got you to be lame with.”

Lena chuckles. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Danvers,” she replies, raising an eyebrow. “I never said I’d be lame with you.” She relishes in the way Kara places a hand on her chest, pretending to be hurt, and her heart flutters at the smile Kara gives her.

“Well, you’re stuck with me now,” Kara replies, reaching over to grab her sweater when she sees Lena rolling up the measuring tape, a signal that the costume fitting is done. Lena forces herself not to look as Kara puts her clothes back on.

“Since when?” she asks with a laugh, moving the table back to where it originally was. When she turns around, she jumps at the sight of Kara standing right in front of her. Kara leans forward, arms on either side of Lena’s torso as she places her hands on the table, and Lena just prays for one thing – that Kara can’t hear her now pounding heart. And she kind of wants this to be over soon, but she can also admit (to no one except herself) that having Kara this close is delightfully cruel.

“Since I said so,” Kara replies. Her voice is a low whisper, and it’s, dare Lena say, _hot_. Kara’s bright blue eyes are darker than usual, and her lips are curled into a – Lena is honest to God on the verge of death – smirk, one that’s kind of adorable but also insanely sexy. Which says a lot, because Lena doesn’t find many things, or people, sexy. She wonders if someone switched off the air-conditioning, because it’s definitely getting hotter by the second. “Do you have a problem with that?” Kara continues, eyebrows raised.

Lena is sure this is how she dies.

Unable to speak, she simply shakes her head, eyes a little wide. Kara’s eyebrows raise even more, as though she’s waiting for a verbal confirmation, and Lena swallows the lump in her throat. “No, no problem at all,” she says, praying that Kara can’t hear the slight shake in her voice.

Kara grins, leaning back. In a second, she’s back to smiling brightly, hands stuffed into her front pockets, like nothing happened. Lena blinks. “Glad to hear,” Kara quips, beaming.

Lena nods, moving away from the table and taking the measuring tape, pen and paper. She lets out a shaky breath as she walks toward the door, switching off the lights. And Kara moves over to the door, opening it, and making an exaggerated gesture for Lena to go out first.

Lena walks out, still shaken, and Kara follows behind her. She barely registers the sound of the door closing as Kara falls into step with her. “You know, I once thought your eyes were blue,” Kara admits as they walk. Lena looks at her, seeing a smile playing on Kara’s lips. “But when I took a closer look, I realized they were green.”

Lena’s head tilts, and she can feel her heart going back to normal as she speaks, “I can’t tell if you think that’s a good thing.”

Kara shrugs with a lopsided smile. “It’s a good thing. I love your eyes.” She says it so casually, like she’s talking about the weather, and Lena can feel her heart speeding up a little at her words. _Great, just when it was returning back to normal._

“Thanks,” Lena replies lamely, smiling slightly at the compliment.

“For the record, though,” Kara starts, grinning at her. “You’re beautiful either way.” Lena wills herself not to blush, not just at Kara’s words, but also because of their proximity, and the fact that Kara’s eyes are so _genuine_ that she honestly feels like her heart is going to beat out of her chest.

“Kara!” a voice rings through the air, and Lena turns to see Mike jogging up to them. “Miss Grant says rehearsal continues in, like,” he looks at his watch, “thirty seconds.”

Kara nods, then turns to look at Lena. “I’ll catch you later?” she asks, smiling.

Lena nods, smiling in return. “Yeah,” she exhales out, waving a hand. “See you later.”

And she watches as Kara walks away, looking back one last time to smile at Lena before walking onstage and preparing for the scene they’re about to rehearse.

//

Of course Mike has to drink till he passes out.

Of course. Lena doesn’t know why she ever expected more from him. And it has to be four days before the day of the performance; in the final week of rehearsals, Miss Grant is always hard on everyone, trying to make sure that everything is perfect.

Mike had one job. _One job_ , and he couldn’t even do it right. All he has to do, really, is show up. Be present at rehearsal, and do what he’s supposed to do – rehearse. Now that they’re days away from the performance, rehearsals are longer, and they start earlier because most of the cast and crew members don’t have classes in the morning. So Miss Grant schedules the rehearsals accordingly, and, by right, everyone is supposed to be here today, since it’s barely eight-thirty in the morning.

Everyone is here. Everyone except Mike, that is, and Lena watches as Kara steps onto the stage, ready to start rehearsal. She’s wearing the same casual black blazer, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the same maroon jeans and the same black sneakers that she wore on the day of auditions. Except today, the buttoned shirt that sits underneath the blazer is a crisp white, and her hair is down in loose curls.

And, she isn’t wearing glasses.

Lena’s seen her without glasses before. A few times, actually, because there are some days that Kara chooses to wear contacts instead of her usual spectacles. And on those days, Lena has to make a conscious effort not to stare at her, or worse, look into her eyes. Which, okay, no one can blame her, because Kara’s eyes are even more captivating when the barrier of her lenses is gone.

“Where’s Mike?” Miss Grant asks, looking around the auditorium. Lena realizes that this is the first time that Miss Grant has ever said Mike’s name correctly in rehearsals, which is a sign that she’s dead serious. Winn clears his throat beside Lena, clearly aware that Miss Grant is going to get upset.

One of the cast members, Mike’s friend from their frat, speaks up, “He, uh, he passed out last night during our frat party. I think he’s still unconscious.”

Miss Grant’s gaze moves to the boy immediately, steely-eyed. Her shoulders square as she raises her eyebrows at him. “You mean to tell me that four days before the performance, he decides it would be a good idea to spend a night engaging in debauchery?” she asks incredulously. There’s a moment of silence before she pinches the bridge of her nose. “I have no time for this kind of nonsense. If he’s not going to be here today, then we’ll need to get someone else to rehearse with Kara. Using the script, however, will ruin the vibe of the scene – does anyone here know Romeo’s lines?”

Another silence follows her words, and she stares at the various cast members on the stage. “No one knows Romeo’s lines?”

Then Lena feels a hand on her arm, and before she can react, she’s being dragged out of the backstage area and towards the center of the stage. Winn pulls her to stand beside Kara, and she looks at him with wide eyes as he looks seriously at Miss Grant. “Lena knows all of Romeo’s lines,” he informs.

Lena’s eyes widen even more. “What are you doing?” she hisses. And, okay, she does know all of Romeo’s lines by heart. She reads the script when she’s bored, because it’s actually a pretty good story, and sometimes she likes to imagine the way Kara would say Juliet’s lines, for fun. And she fools around with Winn backstage sometimes, him being Juliet and saying the lines in a high-pitched voice, while she deepens her voice to become Romeo.

It’s not her fault that she has a good memory.

“I’m doing you a favor,” Winn says, so lowly that only Lena can hear him. “And saving the entire cast and crew from Miss Grant’s wrath.”

“Does she?” Miss Grant asks, eyebrows raised in surprise. Her gaze moves to Lena. “Do you?”

Lena clears her throat. “Yes, but it may not be word for word,” she admits. “And not for all of the scenes.” Which, she only knows Romeo’s lines in the scenes with Juliet. She’s never bothered about the other parts, anyway; she and Winn only use the scenes with both Romeo and Juliet in them when they’re goofing around, too.

“Do you know the lines for Romeo’s scenes with Juliet?” Miss Grant questions. Lena nods. “Do you have experience with acting?”

“I was a tree in fifth grade. And the lead in seventh,” Lena replies, feeling Kara laugh lightly beside her, probably imagining the fifth grade version of her in a tree costume.

“Good enough,” Miss Grant says, nodding. “Everyone who isn’t in scene five of the first act can take a break, we’ll rehearse that now.”

Lena’s eyes widen at her words as Winn gives her an encouraging pat on the shoulder retreating backstage. The rest of the cast move off the stage, talking among themselves, others going to get a drink of water.

There is no problem, except that there is one problem. And the problem is that scene five from the first act is the scene where Romeo and Juliet meet, immediately falling in love with each other. Which is also the scene with all the romance and eye contact. Which is also the scene where they kiss. Which Lena is most definitely not okay with, for several obvious reasons.

“Alright, come on, let’s not waste time,” Miss Grant says. “We’ll start from Romeo’s line when he first runs into Juliet.” Sitting back down in her seat, Miss Grant watches them expectantly. Lena clears her throat, turning to face Kara, who gives her a look that asks,  _are you okay with this?_

Lena nods, then steels herself, trying to do the same thing that Kara once said she does when she plays Juliet. She slips into a completely different person, and pretends that Kara is someone she’s never met. It’s similar to recalling the first time she and Kara ever spoke outside the auditorium, where she was so taken that she could barely speak.

“Where have you been all my life?” she asks, internally cringing at the line. First of all, Romeo is _such_ a player. Second, she hasn’t acted on the spot in so long that she’s forgotten how to do it without feeling like killing herself.

Kara stays in character, but Lena sees the laughter in her eyes for a moment before she slips back into Juliet’s shoes. “Am I supposed to say ‘searching for you’?” she asks, eyebrows raised amusedly.

Lena tries so hard. She tries so hard not to break character, but this scene is full of shameless, cheesy flirting. Which, apparently, the original Romeo and Juliet were this cheesy, too, so maybe she should just find a way to kill herself instead of continuing this. Unfortunately, she’s still well and alive, and there’s no way to escape this, so she continues with Romeo’s line, “Were you?”

Kara steps closer to her, a stage direction on the script. Lena mentally plots all the ways she can kill Winn. “Not particularly, to be very honest with you,” Kara replies, head tilted. “But now that I’ve found you, maybe I should have been searching this whole time.”

Lena honest to God hopes that someone kills her. She remembers the stage direction now, and reaches out, taking Kara’s hand. There’s a split second where she looks at Kara unsurely, but Kara gives her a subtle nod. Her heart pounds as she wills herself to stay in character, lifting Kara’s hand and leaning down to place a kiss on her knuckles. “You flatter me,” she says in reply, the script second nature to her at this point. “Do I have the honor of knowing your name?”

Kara smiles at her, eyes looking ever brighter than usual under the spotlights on the stage, and Lena nearly forgets they’re acting. “Juliet.” It comes out sweet and flirtatious, and looking into Kara’s eyes, Lena wonders how she’s still in character right now.

"I'm Romeo. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Juliet. If I may be honest with you, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” Maybe it’s the fact that Kara _is_ the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen that makes the line just a little easier to say.

“Charming,” Kara replies, grinning. Lena can feel the urge to kill herself increasing by the second. Seriously, who even wrote this script?

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Lena recites Romeo’s line, trying to put on an expression that Romeo would have. She doesn’t even know what kind of expression to make, but Kara’s still in character, so she guesses she’s not doing as terribly as she thinks she is.

The character playing Juliet’s nurse comes in. “Juliet, your mother is looking for you,” she says.

Kara turns to the nurse, then, following the script, looks back at Lena. Well, not at Lena, at Romeo. “Who is your mother?” Lena asks, frowning in confusion. She prays she’s playing Romeo right.

“The lady of the house,” the nurse replies. “Wise, noble, kind… everything Juliet is comes from her. She’s the most virtuous leader I know. Now, Juliet, your mother wants to speak with you. You must come.” The girl playing the nurse then returns backstage.

Kara turns back to Lena. “I’m sorry, Romeo, I have to go.”

Then she turns away. “Juliet, wait, don’t go!” And Lena recites the line without thinking; before Kara’s hand can slip out of hers, she tightens her hold on it and pulls Kara towards her. The action spins Kara back around, and Lena steps closer to her, praying to any higher being listening that Kara can’t hear her heart racing. She herself can hear her heart beating loudly in her ears, can feel it pounding in her ribcage as she looks up at Kara, face inches from hers.

She barely notices when Kara’s hands come to rest right above her hips. Not knowing what to do with her hands, she brings them up, cupping the upper part of Kara’s neck, and her thumbs automatically set themselves right where Kara’s jawline meets her cheek.

There’s a hesitation there, from both her and Kara. Because to begin with, Lena isn’t _actually_ playing Romeo, she’s just filling in temporarily for the actor who’s playing him – it isn’t her who is supposed to be kissing Kara right now. It’s supposed to be Mike, and if she were to look at the situation from a practical standpoint, there’s no need to rehearse a kiss, right? She pauses, face still so close to Kara’s that she can see all the specks of blue in her eyes and the scar above her eyebrow clearer than ever, and turns to look at Miss Grant.

Miss Grant is still looking at them, and at Lena’s glance, she raises her eyebrows. “You’re doing spectacularly,” she lifts a hand, waving. “Continue.”

Lena looks back at Kara, whose eyes are filled with warmth and assurance. Lena can see the hesitation in her eyes; hesitation that’s only there because she doesn’t want Lena to be uncomfortable. Yet, she doesn’t speak, as though she shares the same sentiment as Lena – the sentiment that the silence between them is something that can’t be broken, lest they want the whole atmosphere to be destroyed.

Lena gives her a subtle nod, and Kara’s eyes say everything she needs to say: _it’s going to be okay._

It’s slow. Their movements are slow, slower than they’re supposed to be. Technically, there’s nothing in the script about how fast Romeo is supposed to dart forward and kiss Juliet, so they’re still following it. And although they’re acting, there’s a fragility to the intimacy of the moment, one that can be shattered with a single wrong move.

And it truly feels like an eternity as Lena feels herself move forward without thinking, face inching closer to Kara’s. She can feel Kara leaning down as well, intending to meet Lena in the middle. The moment feels like something of a dream, and Lena watches Kara’s eyelids drooping lazily, not fluttering shut quite yet, but drooping more and more with every bit of space that disappears between them.

She can almost feel the brush of Kara’s lips on hers, can definitely feel Kara’s breath on her lips, can definitely feel Kara’s hands tightening ever so slightly above her hips, when the sound of the auditorium door opening echoes through the whole theater.

Almost like a spell is broken, she and Kara break apart, looking towards the door to see Mike rushing in. “I’m so sorry!” he exclaims, completely oblivious to the fact that the person playing Juliet was just about to lock lips with someone who isn’t even playing Romeo, but has to do it in his stead, just for today, because of his complete and utter irresponsibility.

And Lena tries to focus, she tries not to pay attention to the fact that she can still feel the ghost of Kara’s hands on her hips, can still feel Kara’s breath on her lips, can still feel the warmth of Kara’s skin under her fingertips. She tries not to pay attention to the fact that if Mike had come in two seconds later, they would’ve been kissing.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Mike says again, climbing up the stairs and onto the stage.

“Why are you on the stage?” Miss Grant questions, so calm that Lena knows she’s the exact _opposite_ of calm. Miss Grant stands from her seat, moving around her table and standing in front of it with her arms crossed.

“What?” Mike asks, brows furrowed in confusion. Lena can feel Kara’s eyes on her, but no matter how much she wants to turn her head and meet her eyes, she just can’t bring herself to.

“I said, why are you on the stage?” Miss Grant asks again, like it’s a simple question even though it’s definitely filled with hidden meanings.

“Um,” Mike rubs the back of his neck, looking to Kara, as though for help. Lena turns before she can stop herself, probably because her subconscious is too curious to see if Kara is actually going to help him, and sees Kara still looking at her instead of at Mike, or at Miss Grant. Kara stares right at her, eyes swirling with a maelstrom of emotions that Lena can’t pinpoint.

Their trance, of some sort, is broken when Mike speaks again. “Isn’t it rehearsal?” he asks. Lena turns to see everyone, who was originally having their own conversations, completely silent and looking at Miss Grant and Mike.

“It is,” Miss Grant says, matter-of-factly. “However, that’s not what I asked. What I asked was: why are you on the stage?”

Mike opens and closes his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Miss Grant doesn’t wait for him, clearly wanting to cut straight to the point as she continues, “You’re not supposed to be on the stage. You’re late, _very_ late, in fact, and if you haven’t already observed, someone else had to take your place so that Kara wouldn’t be wasting her time here doing nothing. I’m asking you why you’re on the stage, because rehearsal is going on. Rehearsal, in which, _you_ are not Romeo.”

Mike keeps silent, head lowered in shame as he rolls his lips into his mouth.

“It was going well, actually. Lena plays Romeo excellently, and the only reason she even had to was because of your irresponsibility. It’s four days before opening night, and here you are, getting drunk and not coming to rehearsal on time. I don’t care what you do in your free time, but whatever it is, it better not affect your attendance and punctuality in rehearsal.”

Mike sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

“I know you’re sorry,” Miss Grant says, nodding. “But that doesn’t change the reality of the situation. This kind of behavior is completely unacceptable, because you are the male lead, whether you are present or absent at rehearsal affects everyone here. The moment you auditioned for this role, it went unspoken that you were ready to commit to it. And if you can’t commit to it, then you should never have auditioned.”

Mike shakes his head slightly. “I can commit to it,” he says apologetically. “I’m really sorry.”

“Your sincerity is acknowledged, so I’ll let you off with a warning today,” Miss Grant says. “But if this ever happens again for any of the remaining rehearsals or, God forbid, opening night, there will be consequences.”

Mike nods silently.

“Now,” Miss Grant says, voice a little lighter. “Lena, you did fantastically, thank you for stepping in and playing Romeo earlier, you played him very well.” Lena nods, managing a small smile. “We’ll resume rehearsal,” she announces to everyone. “Mike, you’re back to playing your role. We’ll start from the beginning again. Fifth scene of the first act.”

Lena turns away, seeing Winn smiling at her from his spot backstage. Before she can walk over, however, a hand on her wrist stops her, and she turns around to see Kara gazing at her sadly. “Lena, are you alright? I’m sorry if I… earlier…” she trails off, brows furrowing as she tries to find the right words to say.

Lena shakes her head, mustering a reassuring smile. “There’s nothing to apologize for,” she assures. “Go rehearse, I’ll see you during the break, okay?”

Kara hesitates, eyes searching her face. After a moment, she nods. “Okay.”

Lena turns around, feeling the hand around her wrist release its grip, and she walks back to Winn, who looks at her with concern. “Hey, you alright? I know it’s hard because, you know, you… like her. Love her? I don’t know,” he rambles, brows furrowed.

Lena lets out a shaky breath. “I’m fine, I just need some time to compose myself.” She watches distractedly as Kara acts out the scene with Mike, seemingly struggling to stay in character.

“She likes you too, you know. Maybe even loves you,” Winn says softly. “The way she looks at you…” he trails off.

Lena shakes her head. “We were acting, Winn. I’m not going to make it into anything it’s not. It’s just going to end in disappointment.” She watches as Mike pulls Kara back to him, the same way she did earlier, and darts forward, pressing his lips to hers.

“I’m not talking about the scene,” Winn replies quietly. “Well, okay, the scene too, but that’s not what I meant. I’m talking about earlier, when she stopped you right before you walked here. She loves you, Lena. She looks at you like… like you put the moon and stars in the sky. Like there’s nothing more precious in this world besides you.”

Lena sighs, eyes trained on the rehearsal, where Mike pulls away from Kara, his arms on her waist and her arms around his neck. She drops her head on Winn’s shoulder, taking a deep breath through her nose, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her arm comfortingly.

She doesn’t know what to think.

All she knows is that Kara is everything to her.

//

They don’t talk about it. Maybe it’s just because there’s nothing to say, or no way to bring it up without turning it into a big deal. So they don’t talk about it. Lena doesn’t ever talk about how she can still feel Kara’s hands on her hips, and can still remember the warmth of Kara’s breath on her lips, even after four days.

They don’t talk about it, and they continue with their friendship as though it never happened. Before Lena knows it, it’s opening night, and she’s taking Kara’s microphone from the table beside them. Stepping closer to Kara, she fastens it to Kara’s ear, adjusting it to make sure it’s in the right place in front of her mouth so that there won’t be ear-splitting feedback when she talks, or too low a volume such that the audience can’t hear her.

And she makes an active effort to ignore their current proximity, eyes focused on the microphone even though she can feel Kara’s gaze on her. She moves back after making sure the microphone is in place, and smiles at Kara. “You ready?” she asks.

Kara grins at her, eyes filled with a new intensity that’s been in place ever since their rehearsal four days ago. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she says, shoulders rolling and head moving from side to side as she stretches her neck.

“You’re acting in a play, not fighting in MMA,” Lena says, laughing at Kara’s antics.

Kara’s eyes light up at her words. “Hey, that rhymed!” she exclaims, giggling. Lena thinks back on her words, realizing they actually rhymed.

Lena chuckles, shaking her head. “Good to know,” she says, nodding and unable to hold back a grin. “Now, go out there and knock ‘em dead.” When Kara’s eyes light up again, she realizes what she said, and adds, “Not MMA style, definitely not MMA style.”

Kara laughs, humming.

“You’ll do great,” Lena says softly, dusting imaginary lint off of Kara’s shoulders. “And I’ll be here the whole time, rooting for you,” she promises.

Kara smiles. “Thanks, Lena.”

Lena grins. “Don’t mention it.” She hears Sam call for Kara in her earpiece, saying that it’ll be her cue in twenty seconds. “Alright, your cue is coming up.” And when it’s finally Kara’s cue, Lena shows her out with one last smile.

Even though she’s busy with cues and backstage work, she uses every second of her free time to watch Kara act. And since Kara is in most of the scenes, Lena almost always manages to catch a glimpse of her acting her character out perfectly, and delivering her lines effortlessly. It’s enchanting, how Kara looks under the spotlight.

And when Mike spins Kara around and pulls her into a kiss, like Lena has seen so many times during rehearsals, Lena watches Kara’s expression as they separate. She can see it clear as day – Mike is back-facing her, so Kara is inevitably facing her, and Lena sees her lovestruck expression as she looks up at Mike.

She can see how Kara’s eyes aren’t as bright as they usually are when she’s genuinely passionate about something, or, in this case, someone. It’s a barely noticeable difference, but Lena sees it even from where she’s standing. Yet, Kara manages to look at Mike (Romeo?) with so much love that Lena truly believes that Juliet’s fallen in love after speaking with Romeo for no more than three minutes.

And all she can think about for the rest of the play is that she wants Kara to look at her like that.

No, not exactly like that, because Kara was acting.

She wants to see the sparkle that Kara gets in her eyes when she’s looking at someone she loves. She wants to see Kara’s eyes smile, along with her whole face. She wants to see Kara practically _glow_ with happiness.

She wants Kara to look at her the way she looks at Kara.

//

They stay pretty much best friends, even after opening night.

In fact, they don’t drift apart at all. They find time to hang out with each other, sometimes they study together, and other times they go to the on-campus café to just sit down and talk.

Kara takes Lena to her favorite Chinese restaurant, something about the best potstickers ever, and orders from her favorite pizza place when Lena comes over one night for a movie night, something about the best pizza she’ll ever taste in her life.

Sam breaks it to her that she’s dating Alex, and Lena finally gets to meet Alex when they go out to the diner a few blocks away from campus. Kara tags along, and so does Winn.

Alex is everything that Kara said she was. She’s smart, witty and fun. Most of all, she makes Sam happier than Lena’s ever seen her, and that’s something in and of itself. When Kara announces that she goes to the bathroom after one too many milkshakes, Lena laughs, watching after her as she power walks in the direction of the bathroom.

When she goes back to drinking her own milkshake, she feels eyes on her, and sees Alex, Sam and Winn all staring at her with matching grins. Blinking, her gaze darts between all of them. “What?”

“‘What’ is that you’re in love with my sister. That’s ‘what’,” Alex says, tone laced with amusement. She raises an eyebrow at Lena, as though challenging her to claim otherwise. “You’re good for her, Lena,” Alex continues. “You make her happy. I think that’s more than enough.”

Lena sighs, taking a sip from her milkshake. “It’s more complicated than that,” she says. “I don’t know, it’s all pretty weird. She probably doesn’t even like me.”

“Well, maybe to _you_ it’s complicated,” Sam says, eyebrows raised, “but all _I_ see is two people in love dancing around each other.” Lena shoots a glare at her, narrowing her eyes. Sam grins, knowing she doesn’t mean it, and Lena’s shoulders slump as she leans back in the booth.

“Okay, okay, say what you want to say, but at the end of the day, things will happen if they happen,” she insists. They all look like they want to push it, but they don’t, and when Kara comes back from the bathroom, they bring up a new topic, acting like they never talked about her at all.

But when Kara talks animatedly, Lena stares, unable to look away, she can feel the knowing smiles coming from all of them.

//

They continue as per normal for a month. A month of Lena pining helplessly after Kara and not doing anything about it. It’s not that she doesn’t want to do anything about it; it’s that every time she tells herself that she’ll confess, she chickens out.

She’s really not all that good at this.

And so here she sits in her nice on-campus apartment, the one that she managed to get with her family’s money (well, more like the one that her mother insisted she get, but what’s the difference?), moping about the whole situation. She knows it’s her fault. She knows she can’t blame anyone, because she’s the one who can’t get herself together and just do it, but God, it’s so much easier said than done. She’s thought of so many ways to just say it.

_Hey Kara, weather’s nice today, isn’t it? By the way, I’m in love with you._

_You know, I know the play’s over, but I could definitely be the Romeo to your Juliet. I mean, I want to be. Very much._

_If you haven’t noticed the way I’ve been looking at you for the past few months, I’m kinda in love with you. I know, right? I’ve been so subtle about it, it makes complete sense that you didn’t know._

There are an infinite number of ways she could tell Kara. An infinite number of things she could say, an infinite number of things she could do to let Kara know that she’s in love with her.

Yet, here she sits, doing absolutely none of them. Instead, she fiddles with the pen on her desk, poking it around, her head resting on the hand that she’s not using to poke the pen.

Wow, she really sucks at this.

Before she can start on another self-deprecating internal monologue, there’s a knock on her door, and she stands up tiredly, walking over to the door and pulling it open.

There’s a flash of blonde hair and a black blazer, the one that she loves so much, before she feels soft, firm lips press against hers.

And she absolutely _cannot_ be blamed for thinking that this is a dream. Or maybe she’s become so crazy about this that she’s turned delusional. It seems like it, doesn’t it? What are the chances that this is reality, that Kara actually knocked on her door and came all the way to her apartment only to kiss her without any preamble or warning? The chances are as close to zero as a number gets, that’s what they are.

But it’s after a moment of shock that she realizes this small, infinitesimal chance is actually coming true right now, and Kara is actually kissing her. Well, her eyes are closed, so she can’t see who it is, but she can smell Kara’s familiar scent, feel familiar arms settle right above her hips, just like that fateful day where she had to play Romeo.

Except that it's not the same as that day, because they’re actually kissing now, and Kara’s lips are actually on hers, and she’s not thinking as she wraps her arms around Kara’s neck in response, pulling her closer and running her fingers through silky blonde tresses.

It’s intoxicating. She doesn’t know why, maybe it’s the addictive taste of Kara’s lips, or the delightful pounding of her heart, or the adrenaline rushing through her veins, or the pleasurable pull in her stomach, but it’s intoxicating for reasons she can’t put into words. Kara kisses her with indescribable passion – and it reminds Lena of the exact gleam in Kara’s eye when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about.

Kara kisses her like it’s their first and last kiss, with a calm desperation, and Lena can’t do anything but let herself fall even further, with the blind faith that Kara will catch her.

She doesn’t know how long it’s been when Kara pulls away, forehead coming to rest lightly on hers. She can feel small puffs of breath flitting over her lips as Kara pants a little, breathless from their kiss. Kara’s eyes are closed, almost tightly so, as though she doesn’t want to let go of this moment, as though she’s afraid to let go of it because once the bubble breaks, they’re going to have to talk about this.

And Lena knows Kara well enough to know that she’s considering the worst case scenario right now. In fact, that’s probably why Kara kissed her the moment she opened the door. Because talking about this, about _them_ , could very well be a disaster, and it’d probably be easier to use actions to express herself, instead of trying to put her thoughts into words.

Lena pulls back slightly, one hand coming under Kara’s chin to push it up. Kara’s eyes flutter open at that, pupils dilated and the usual bright blue replaced by a slightly darker shade – one that Lena can see very clearly because Kara isn’t wearing glasses today.

“That’s one way to greet someone,” Lena says, and Kara laughs at that, breath dusting across Lena’s lips again. “Really, quite spectacular,” she continues, nodding amusedly. “Ten out of ten would do again.”

“I didn’t…” Kara trails off, biting her lip. “I didn’t know how to do this. How to tell you.”

Lena shakes her head, smiling. “You don’t have to. I love you for you, and this,” she laughs, “this was definitely very you.” She hums. “Not quite what I expected, but when you think about it, it really _is_ very you.”

“You love me.” Kara’s smiling as she says it, not a question, not quizzically. Just a simple statement, an echo of Lena’s words.

“I do,” Lena replies, nodding. “And I think I was a goner since the moment you first walked onto that stage for your audition.” Kara pulls back at that, looking at Lena with her eyebrows raised in question. Lena nods. “Really.” She places both hands on the lapels of Kara’s casual black blazer. “You were wearing this. It’s a very flattering blazer.”

“You like it?” Kara asks, grinning.

Lena nods. “Of course, it looks amazing on you. You’re always beautiful, of course, but I really like it,” she admits, dusting imaginary lint off of Kara’s shoulders like she did the day of opening night. “Do you know how tongue-tied I was when you first talked to me? God, it was so bad,” she recalls, laughing.

Kara’s grin grows. “Really? Because I thought _I_ was the tongue-tied one.”

“So we were both tongue-tied idiots, then,” Lena concludes, smiling up at Kara, who beams back at her, eyes filled with the love that she’s always longed for Kara to look at her with. And seeing the pure, unadulterated happiness in her eyes, and the adoration, Lena can’t help but smile even wider.

“Is that why you were so nervous during my costume fitting?” Kara asks, raising an eyebrow, and Lena groans, burying her face into Kara’s shoulder as Kara shakes with laughter.

“Don’t remind me,” Lena says, turning her head and resting her cheek on Kara’s shoulder instead, so that she can speak without her words being muffled. “I nearly passed out that day. And your sudden bout of confidence when you trapped me against the table…” she trails off, shaking her head.

Kara laughs, pushing Lena back so she can look at Lena’s blushing face. “I admit, I’m pretty proud of that one. Even if I didn’t know where it came from or how I managed to pull it off,” she says, smiling cheekily.

Lena points a stern finger at her. “You shouldn’t be proud of it. I was on the verge of death, right there,” she says accusingly.

Kara pouts. “Hey, you got back at me when I thought our friendship and any chance of being more was down the drain after the rehearsal where we almost kissed.”

Lena’s brows furrow. “Did you really think that?” She thinks back to the look in Kara’s eyes right before she turned away to walk backstage, the unreadable expression on her face and the barely concealed worry in her eyes.

Kara nods. “I did. I was so afraid, but I couldn’t bring it up after we went back to normal. It was just hard, I didn’t want to make it weird,” she admits, shrugging.

Lena chuckles. “So you’re not making anything weird by coming here and jumping my bones the moment I open my door?”

Kara pouts again. “I resent that. I didn’t jump your bones, I merely moved at slightly faster than average speed and kissed you.” She shrugs. “Maybe I was making it weird, but I don’t know, I was just so tired of wondering if you felt the same. Just gotta go for it, you know?” she says, jabbing a hand forward to punctuate her statement.

Lena hums. “Good timing, by the way. I was moping about that before you knocked.”

Kara grins, eyes lighting up. Lena’s enraptured. “Well, then I definitely don’t regret it.” Lena laughs, leaning forward to place a light kiss on her lips again. Kara hums contentedly as they separate. “Do you remember when Winn asked me how I acted like I loved Mike?” Lena nods, and Kara continues, “And I said that sometimes, I pretend like I’m looking at someone I really care about.”

Lena nods again, a small smile on her face. “You did really well on opening night. I’m so, _so_ proud of you,” she says sincerely.

Kara beams. “Thank you, even though you’ve already said that, like, a million times. You wanna know how I did so well on opening night?” she asks. Lena’s eyebrows raise curiously, and Kara looks at her, smiling softly, “I just pretended I was looking at you.”

Lena’s lips curl upwards at that, into a smile that makes her cheeks hurt. “You’re such a charmer,” she teases.

Kara grins. “Maybe. But it’s true. I just pretended he was you, and it got so easy. Because Lena, I can’t explain how in love with you I am. I just…” she trails off, shaking her head with a small shrug, “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And it doesn’t matter that you were only Romeo for, like, five minutes,” Lena laughs at that, and Kara continues, smile wider than before, “because I don’t care about Romeo, and I don’t want a Romeo. I want Lena.”

Lena smiles. “Unless there’s another Lena in your life, I’m going to assume you’re talking about me.” Kara slaps her lightly, and she laughs, relenting, “Okay, okay. Sorry,” she says, still laughing a little. “Speaking of the play, I had this ridiculous idea, actually.” Kara looks at her curiously at that, and she feels her cheeks flushing as she laughs bashfully. “I was thinking about the different ways to confess to you.”

“Oh, I wanna hear this one,” Kara says mischievously, and Lena laughs again.

“I had this terrible idea, something like ‘hey, I know the play is over, but I still want to be the Romeo to your Juliet’,” she says, and Kara bursts out laughing, head tipping back.

She watches, captivated by Kara’s laugh. “Well,” Kara replies, sobering up a little. “You don’t have to be the Romeo to my Juliet,” she shakes her head, “you can just be the Lena to my Kara.”

“I think I can do that,” Lena says, nodding. Her smile is uncontrollably wide, but she can’t be bothered about it when she sees Kara smile just as big.

“I love you,” Kara says again, like she’ll never tire of saying it.

Lena beams, hands coming up to cradle the upper part of Kara’s neck, thumbs resting just above her jawline. Kara’s hands return to rest just above her hips, the same position they were in a few months ago at _that_ rehearsal – the one Lena knows she’ll never forget for the rest of her days.

“I love you too,” she says softly, and this time, as they draw closer to each other, lips meeting in the middle, there are no doors opening to interrupt them.

//

“Ha! You owe me fifty bucks!” Sam exclaims, pointing at Winn. “Told you Kara would be the one to make the first move!”

Winn groans, taking out his wallet as Alex kisses Sam on the cheek. “Good thinking, babe,” Alex says proudly as Sam happily takes the fifty dollar bill from Winn’s hand.

“You _bet_ on us?” Kara asks incredulously, looking between Sam, Alex and Winn.

Lena sticks her thumb in Kara’s direction. “What she said.”

“It’s called business, Kara,” Sam replies with a grin, shrugging nonchalantly. “It worked, didn’t it?” she asks, waggling her eyebrows.

“Not for me,” Winn chimes in, sulking petulantly. Everyone laughs, which pulls the sulk from his face, and he smiles as he waves it off. “Anyway,” he says, “I’m happy for you two. We all are.” Sam and Alex nod in agreement.

Lena grins, looking at Kara, who beams back at her. “So are we,” she says softly, enraptured by the smile on Kara’s face, and the sparkle in her eyes.

And it’s true.

_She’s never been happier._

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on tumblr [@bezziemateys](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/bezziemateys)


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